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THE 


CHEMISTRY  OF  COMMON  LIFE. 


JAMES  F.  J0HSST05, 


ETO.,  ETO.j 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  NUMEROUS  WOOD  ENGRAVINGS 


VOL  L 


TWELFTH 


3ITION, 


•LIBRARY 


NEW  YORK;  NO); ' 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY, 

B 4 9 & B 5 1 BROADWAY. 

1878. 


DEDICATION. 


T 


TO  SIR  DAVID  BREWSTER, 

K.H*  D.C.L.  t. R.S,  V.P.R.S.,  EDINBURGH,  ASSOCIATE  OF  THE  INSTITUTE  OF  FRAN 01, 
AND  PRINCIPAL  OF  ST.  LEONARD’S  COLLEGE,  ST.  ANDREW’S. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  DAVID, 

I dedicate  this  little  Work  to  you,  partly  that  I may  hava 
the  honour  of  associating  with  it  a name  so  eminent  in  science 
as  yours,  and  partly  for  the  opportunity  it  gives  me  of  expressing 
my  sense  of  the  many  obligations  I owe  you  as  an  old  and  tried 
friend. 

Being  yourself  not  only  a lover  and  assiduous  cultivator  of 
science,  but  a remarkable  extender  of  its  boundaries — a leader 
in  one  of  its  most  interesting  and  intricate  departments — and  an 
anxious  diffuser  of  the  results  of  general  scientific  research — I am 
certain  of  your  sympathy  in  the  following  attempt  to  render 
popular  some  of  the  more  immediately  applicable  results  of  that 
branch  to  which  I have  myself  been  now  long  devoted.  If  we, 
whose  profession  it  is  to  follow  the  progress  of  science,  can 
scarcely  keep  pace  with  the  advance  of  our  several  departments, 
it  must  be  especially  necessary,  from  time  to  time,  to  present 
its  more  striking  novelties,  in  an  intelligible  form,  to  the  general 
public. 

With  sincere  wishes  that  your  health  may  be  long  preserved, 
tfnd  that  optical  science  may  still  for  many  years  number  you 
among  its  most  illustrious  cultivators, 


Durham,  October , 185& 


Believe  me, 

My  Dear  Sir  David, 

Your  obliged  friend, 
JAMES  F.  W.  JOHNSTON. 


" • . , - 1 . - ; • . . 
- < - - . V r 


INTRODUCTION 

The  common  life  of  man  is  full  of  wonders,  Chemical 
and  Physiological.  Most  of  us  pass  through  this  life 
without  seeing  or  being  sensible  of  them,  though  every 
day  our  existence  and  our  comforts  ought  to  recall 
them  to  our  minds.  One  main  cause  of  this  is,  that 
our  schools  tell  us  nothing  about  them — do  not  teach 
those  parts  of'  modem  learning  which  would  fit  us  for 
seeing  them.  What  most  concerns  the  things  that 
daily  occupy  our  attention  and  cares,  are  in  early  life 
almost  sedulously  kept  from  our  knowledge.  Those 
who  learn  any  thing  regarding  them,  must  subsequently 
teach  themselves  through  the  help  of  the  press : hence 
the  necessity  for  a Popular  Chemical  Literature. 

It  is  with  a view  to  meet  this  want  of  the  Public, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  supply  a Manual  for  the 
Schools,  that  the  present  Work  has  been  projected. 
It  treats,  in  what  appears  to  be  their  natural  order, 


vi 


INTRODUCTION. 


of  THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE  and  THE  WATER  WE  DRINK, 

in  their  relations  to  human  life  and  health — the  soil 
we  cultivate  and  the  plant  we  rear,  as  the 
sources  from  which  the  chief  sustenance  of  all  life  is 
obtained — the  bread  we  eat  and  the  beef  we  cook, 
as  the  representatives  of  the  two  grand  divisons  of 
human  food — the  beverages  we  infuse,  from  which 
so  much  of  the  comfort  of  modern  life,  both  savage 
and  civilised,  is  derived — the  sweets  we  extract, 
the  history  of  which  presents  so  striking  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  economical  value  of  chemical  science — > 
the  liquors  we  ferment,  so  different  from  the 
sweets  in  their  action  on  the  system,  and  yet  so 
closely  connected  with  them  in  chemical  history — 
the  narcotics  we  indulge  in,  as  presenting  us  with 
an  aspect  of  the  human  constitution  which,  both 
chemically  and  physiologically,  is  more  mysterious 
and  wonderful  than  any  other  we  are  yet  acquainted 
with — THE  ODOURS  WE  ENJOY,  and  THE  SMELLS  WE 
dislike  ; the  former  because  of  the  beautiful  illus- 
tration they  present  of  the  recent  progress  of  organic 
chemistry  in  its  relations  to  the  comforts  of  common 
life,  and  the  latter  because  of  their  intimate  connection 
with  our  most  important  sanitary  arrangements— 
what  we  breathe  for  and  why  we  digest,  as  relat- 
ing to  functions  of  the  body  at  once  the  most  important 


INTRODUCTION. 


Vll 


to  life,  and  the  most  purely  chemical  in  their  nature — 
the  body  we  chebish,  as  presenting  many  striking 
phenomena,  and  performing  many  interesting  chemi- 
cal functions  not  touched  upon  in  the  discussion  of 
the  preceding  topics — and  lastly,  the  circulation  of 
matter,  as  exhibiting  in  one  view  the  end,  purpose, 
and  method  of  all  the  changes  in  the  natural  body, 
in  organic  nature,  and  in  the  mineral  kingdom,  which 
are  connected  with  and  determine  the  existence  of 
life. 

It  has  been  the  object  of  the  Author  in  this  Work, 
to  exhibit  the  present  condition  of  chemical  know- 
ledge, and  of  matured  scientific  opinion  upon  the 
subjects  to  which  it  is  devoted.  The  reader  will  not 
be  surprised,  therefore,  should  he  find  in  it  some 
things  which  differ  from  what  is  to  be  found  in  other 
popular  works  already  in  his  hands  or  on  the  shelves 
of  his  library. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


CHAP 


PAoa 


I. 

THE 

AIR  WE  BREATHE, 

• • 

• 

5 

II, 

THE 

WATER  WE  DRINK:, 

. 

23 

III. 

THE 

SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE,  , 

• 

. 

42 

IV. 

THE 

PLANT  WE  REAR,  . 

• 

. 

62 

V. 

THE 

BREAD  WE  EAT, 

• • 

. 

79 

VI. 

THE 

BEEF  WE  COOK, 

. 

• 

. 

106 

VIL 

THE 

BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE- 

—THE  TEAS. 

. 

128 

mi. 

THE 

BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE- 

— THE  COFFEES, 

. 

165 

IX. 

THE 

BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE- 

—THE  COCOAS, 

. 

ISO 

X. 

THE 

SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT — 

THE 

GRAPE  AND 

CANE 

SUGARS, 

. 

. 

197 

XI. 

THE 

SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT — THE 

MANNA  AND 

MILK 

SUGARS, 

. 

. 

226 

XII. 

THE 

LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT- 

-THE 

BEERS, 

. 

239 

XIII. 

THE 

LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT- 

-THE 

WINES,  . 

• 

260 

XIV. 

THE 

LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT— 

-THE 

BRANDIES, 

. 

274 

THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 

Height  of  the  earth’s  atmosphere;  it  is  one  of  the  elements  of  the  ancients. — Compo- 
sition of  the  atmosphere. — Oxygen,  preparation  and  properties  of. — Nitrogen,  pre- 
paration and  properties  of. — Proportions  of  these  elements  in  the  air;  their  adapta- 
tion in  kind  and  quantity  to  the  existing  condition  of  things. — Uses  of  the  oxygen 
and  nitrogen. — Uses  of  the  carbonic  acid ; its  importance  to  vegetable  life.— Dele- 
terious influence  upon  animal  life. — The  “Poison  Valley  ” of  Java. — Importance 
of  the  watery  vapour  of  the  air;  its  constant  circulation.*— Formation  of  rain  and 
dew ; their  many  uses. — Accidental  constituents  of  the  air ; ozone,  nitric  acid,  and 
ammonia. — Yapours  which  rise  from  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  saline  matters 
from  the  sea. 

The  earth  we  inhabit  is  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  of 
air,  the  height  of  which  is  known  to  be  at  least  forty-five 
miles.  It  presses  upon  the  earth  with  a weight  equal  at  the 
level  of  the  sea  to  about  15  lb.  on  every  square  inch  of  sur- 
face. As  we  ascend  high  mountains,  this  weight  becomes 
less ; and  as  we  go  down  into  deep  mines,  it  becomes  sensi- 
bly greater. 

W e breathe  this  atmospheric  air,  and  without  it  we  could 
not  live  a single  moment.  It  floats  around  the  earth  in 
almost  perpetual  motion ; and  according  to  the  swiftness 
with  which  it  moves,  it  produces  gentle  breezes,  swift  winds, 
or  terrible  tornadoes. 

Though  very  familiar  to  us,  and  regarded  with  little 


6 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


curiosity,  this  air  is  yet  very  wonderful,  both  in  itself  and 
in  its  uses.  Imperfect  as  the  knowledge  of  the  ancients 
was,  they  recognised  its  importance  by  giving  it  a place 
among  what  they  regarded  as  the  four  primal  elements  of 
nature — fire,  air,  earth,  and  water. 

Yet,  though  apparently  pure  and  elementary,  it  is  by  no 
means  either  a simple  or  pure  substance.  It  is  a mixture 
of  several  different  kinds  of  matter,  each  of  which  performs 
a beautiful  and  wise  part  in  relation  to  animal  and  vegetable 
life.  Four  substances,  at  least,  are  known  to  be  necessary 
to  its  composition.  Two  of  these,  oxygen  and  nitrogen, 
form  nearly  its  entire  bulk ; the  two  others,  carbonic  acid 
and  watery  vapour,  being  present  only  in  minute  quantities. 

Oxygen  is  a kind  of  air  or  gas,  which,  like  the  atmos- 
phere itself,  is  without  colour,  taste,  or  smell.  A candle 
burns  in  it  with  much  greater  brilliancy  and  rapidity  than 
in  common  air.  Animals  also  breathe  in  it  with  an  increase 
of  pleasure  ; but  it  excites  them,  quickens  their  circulation, 

throws  them  into  a state 
Fis*  L of  fever,  and  finally  kills 

them,  by  excess  of  excite- 
ment. They  live  too  rapid- 
ly in  pure  oxygen  gas,  and 
burn  away  in  it  like  the 
fast-flaring  candle. 

This  gas  is  easily  pre- 
pared by  mixing  the 
chlorate  of  potash  of  the 
shops  with  a little  sand, 
powdered  glass,  or  oxide 
of  manganese,  and  heat- 
ing the  mixture  in  a flask 
over  a spirit-lamp.  When 
it  melts,  the  gas  is  given 
off,  and  will  soon  fill  the  flask.  It  cannot  be  seen  by  the 


NITROGEN  GAS. 


7 


eye,  or  detected  by  any  of  the  other  senses.  Its  presence 
may  be  readily  shown,  however,  by  introducing  a lighted  ta- 
per or  a bit  of  red-hot  charcoal,  or  of  kindled  phosphorus  at 
the  end  of  a wire  (fig.  1).  The  brilliancy  of  the  burning 
will  prove  the  presence  of  the  gas. 

Nitrogen  is  also  a kind  of  air  which,  like  oxygen,  is  void 
of  colour,  taste,  and  smell ; 
but  a lighted  candle  is  in- 
stantly extinguished,  and 
animals  cease  to  breathe 
when  introduced  into  it* 

We  obtain  this  gas  by  put- 
ting a bit  of  phosphorus 
into  a small  cup  over  water, 
kindling  it,  and  inverting 
over  it-  a bottle,  dipping 
with  its  mouth  into  the 
water  (fig.  2).  When  the  phosphorus  has  ceased  to  burn, 
and  the  bottle  has  become  cool,  it  may  be  corked  and  re- 
moved from  the  water.  If  a lighted  taper  be  now  intro* 
duced  into  the  bot- 
tle, it  will  immedi- 
ately be  extinguished, 
showing  that  only  ni- 
trogen remains  (fig. 

3).  In  this  process, 
the  burning  phospho- 
rus removes  the  oxy- 
gen from  the  air  con- 
tained in  the  bottle, 
and  leaves  only  the 
nitrogen. 

Oxygen  is  one- 
ninth  part  heavier , 
and  nitrogen  one  thirty-sixth  part  lighter  than  common  air 


Fig.  2. 


e 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


Carbonic  acid  is  a kind  of  air  which,  like  oxygen  and 
FI  4 nitrogen,  is  void  of  colour  ; but, 

unlike  them,  possesses  a slight 
odour,  and  a perceptibly  sour 
taste.  Burning  bodies  are  ex- 
tinguished, and  animals  cease 
to  breathe  when  introduced  into 
it.  It  is  one-half  heavier  than 
common  air,  and  can  therefore 
be  poured  through  the  air  from 
one  vessel  to  another  (fig.  4). 
When  passed  through  lime-wa- 
ter,* it  makes  it  milky  (fig.  5), 
forming  with  the  dissolved  lime 
an  insoluble  white  powder, 
which,  because  it  contains  carbonic  acid,  is  called  carbonate 

of  lime,  and  is  the  same  thing 
Fig*  5*  as  chalk.  It  is  the  escape 

of  this  gas  which  gives  their 
sparkling  briskness  to  fer- 
mented liquors,  to  soda-wa- 
ter, and  to  the  waters  of 
some  mineral  springs. 

Carbonic  acid  is  easily 
prepared  by  pouring  vinegar 
upon  common  soda,  or  di- 
luted spirit  of  salt  (muriatic 
acid)  upon  chalk  or  limestone.  The  gas  rises  in  bubbles 
through  the  liquid,  and,  in  consequence  of  its  weight,  re- 
mains in  the  lower  part  of  the  vessel.  As  it  collects  it 
gradually  ascends,  driving  the  common  air  before  it,  and  at 

* Lime-water  is  formed  by  pouring  water  upon  slaked  lime,  shaking  them  well 
together,  and  allowing  the  mixture  to  settle.  The  clear  liquid  contains  a portion  o! 
Jhe  lime  in  solution,  and  is  therefore  called  Ziwe-water. 


CARBONIC  ACID. 


9 


last  flows,  as  water  would  do,  over  the  edge  of  the  vessel. 
Its  rise  may  he  shown  by  introducing  two  lighted  tapers,  as 
in  the  figure  (fig.  6),  when  the  lower  one 
will  be  seen  to  go  out,  while  the  upper  one 
is  still  burning. 

By  watery  vapour  is  meant  the  steam 
or  vapour  visible,  or  invisible,  which  as- 
cends from  a surface  of  water  when  ex- 
posed to  the  air.  When  water  is  spilt  upon 
the  ground  in  dry  weather,  it  soon  disap- 
pears : it  rises  in  invisible  vapour,  and 
floats  buoyantly  among  the  other  constitu- 
ents of  the  atmosphere. 

These  four  substances  the  air  every  where  and  always 
contains.  They  are  all  necessary  to  the  daily  wants  of  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  life ; but  the  two  gases,  oxygen  and  ni- 
trogen, form  so  large  a proportion  of  the  whole  that  we  are 
accustomed  to  say  of  dry  air,  that  it  consists  of  nitrogen  and 
oxygen  only,  in  the  proportion  of  4 gallons  of  the  former  to 
1 of  the  latter.  More  correctly,  however,  air,  when  deprived 
of  the  watery  vapour  and  carbonic  acid  it  contains,  consists, 
in  100  gallons,  of  79  of  nitrogen  mixed  with  21  of  oxygen ; 
or  of— 

By  measure. 

Nitrogen,  . . . .79 

Oxygen,  . . . . 21 

100 

The  carbonic  acid  exists  in  the  air  in  very  small  propor- 
tion. At  ordinary  elevations  there  are  only  about  2 gallons 
of  this  gas  in  every  5000  of  air — asWth  part  of  the  whole. 
It  increases,  however,  as  we  ascend,  so  that  at  heights  of 
8000  or  10,000  feet  the  proportion  of  carbonic  acid  is  nearly 
doubled.  Even  this  increased  quantity  is  very  small ; and 


10 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


yet  its  presence  is  essential  to  the  existence  of  vegetable  lifo 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

But  being  heavier  than  common  air,  it  appears  singular 
that  the  proportion  of  this  gas  should  increase  as  we  ascend 
into  the  atmosphere.  Its  natural  tendency  would  seem  to 
be  rather  to  sink  towards  the  earth,  and  there  to  form  a 
layer  of  deadly  air,  in  which  neither  animal  nor  plant  could 
live.  But  independent  of  winds  and  aerial  currents,  which 
tend  to  mix  and  blend  together  the  different  gases  of  which 
the  air  consists,  all  gases,  by  a law  of  nature,  tend  to  diffuse 
themselves  through  each  other,  and  to  intermix  more  or  less 
speedily,  even  where  the  utmost  stillness  prevails  and  no 
wind  agitates  them.  Hence  a light  gas  like  hydrogen  does 
not  rise  wholly  to  the  utmost  regions  of  the  air,  there  to 
float  on  the  heavier  gases  ; nor  does  a heavy  gas  like  car- 
bonic acid  sink  down  so  as  to  rest  permanently  beneath  the 
lighter  gases.  On  the  contrary,  all  slowly  intermix,  become 
interfused,  and  mutually  intercorporated,  so  that  the  hydro- 
gen, the  carbonic  acid,  and  the  other  gases  which  are  pro- 
duced in  nature,  may  be  found  everywhere  through  the 
whole  mass,  and  a comparatively  homogeneous  mixture  uni- 
formly overspreads  the  whole  earth.  In  obedience  to  this 
law,  carbonic  acid  in  all  places  slowly  rises  or  slowly  sinks, 
as  the  case  may  be,  and  thus,  on  the  whole,  a uniform  purity 
is  maintained  in  the  air  we  breathe.  If  it  seems  to  linger 
in  sheltered  hollows  like  the  deadly  gas-lake  of  J ava,  it  is 
because  the  fatal  air  issues  from  the  earth  as  rapidly  as  it 
can  diffuse  itself  upwards  through  the  atmosphere ; and  if 
it  rest  more  abundantly  on  the  mountain  top,  it  is  because 
the  leaves  of  plants,  and  the  waters  of  the  sea,  absorb  it 
from  the  lower  layers  of  the  air  faster  than  it  can  descend 
to  supply  their  demands. 

The  watery  vapour  varies  in  quantity  with  the  climato 
*nd  temperature  of  the  place.  It  is  less  in  cold  seasons 


HOW  GASES  MIX  IN  THE  AIR. 


ii 


and  climates  generally  than  in  such  as  are  hot.  It  seldom 
forms  more  than  Ath,  or  less  than  ^th  of  the  bulk  of  the  air, 

The  presence  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  atmosphere  is  shown 
by  the  formation  of  a white  film  of  carbonate  of  lime  on  the 
surface  of  lime-water  when  this  is  exposed  to  the  air.  The 
presence  of  watery  vapour  may  be  shown  on  the  hottest  days 
by  pouring  ice-cold  water  into  a tumbler  or  water-bottle, 
when  the  vapour  of  the  air  will  rapidly  condense  on  the 
outer  surface  of  the  vessel  in  the  form  of  drops  of  dew. 

The  purposes  which  we  know  to  be  served  by  these  sev- 
eral constituents  of  the  atmosphere  show  both  that  they  are 
all  essential  to  the  composition  of  the  air,  and  that  in  quan- 
tity as  well  as  kind  they  have  been  beneficently  adjusted  to 
the  composition,  the  wants,  and  the  functions  of  animals  and 
of  plants. 

Thus,  as  to  the  oxygen — 

From  every  breath  of  air  which  the  animal  draws  into 
its  lungs  it  extracts  a quantity  of  oxygen.  The  oxygen  thus 
obtained  is  a part  of  the  natural  food  of  the  animal,  which  it 
can  obtain  from  no  other  natural  source,  and  new  supplies 
of  which  are  necessary  to  it  every  moment.  The  oxygen  of 
the  atmosphere,  therefore,  is  essential  to  the  very  existence 
of  life  in  the  higher  orders  of  animals. 

The  candle  burns  also,  and  all  combustible  bodies  kindle 
in  the  air,  only  because  it  contains  oxygen.  This  gas  is  a 
kind  of  necessary  food  to  flaming  and  burning  bodies ; so 
that  were  it  absent  from  the  earth’s  atmosphere,  neither 
light  nor  heat  could  be  produced  from  coal,  wood,  or  other 
combustible  substances. 

But  the  proportion,  also,  in  which  oxygen  exists  in  the 
air  is  adjusted  to  the  existing  condition  of  things.  Did  the 
atmosphere  consist  of  oxygen  only  the  lives  of  animals 
would  be  of  most  brief  duration,  and  bodies  once  set  on  fire 
would  burn  so  fast  as  to  be  absolutely  beyond  control.  The 


12 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


oxygen  is  therefore  mixed  with  a large  proportion  of  nitro- 
gen. This  gas,  rot  being  poisonous,  as  carbonic  acid  is, 
harmlessly  dilutes  the  too  active  oxygen.  It  weakens  and 
prolongs  its  action  on  the  system  as  water  dilutes  wine  or 
spirits,  and  assuages  their  too  fiery  influence  upon  the  ani- 
mal frame. 

Then,  as  to  the  carbonic  acid — 

Every  green  leaf  that  waves  on  field  or  tree  sucks  in, 
during  the  sunshine,  this  gas  from  the  air.  It  is  as  indis- 
pensable to  the  life  of  the  plant  as  oxygen  is  to  the  life  of 
the  animal.  Remove  carbonic  acid  from  the  air  and  all  ve- 
getable growth  would  cease.  It  must,  therefore,  be  a neces- 
sary constituent  of  the  atmosphere  of  our  earth. 

But  carbonic  acid  is  poisonous  to  animals.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  the  proportion  of  this  gas  contained  in  the  air  is 
so  very  small.  Were  this  proportion  much  greater  than 
it  is,  animals,  as  they  are  now  constituted,  could  not  breathe 
the  atmosphere  without  injury  to  their  health.*  On  the 


* The  most  remarkable  natural  example  of  an  atmosphere  overloaded  with  car- 
bonic acid  gas  is  the  famous  Poison  Valley  in  the  island  of  Java,  which  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  an  eyewitness 

“We  took  with  us  two  dogs  and  some  fowls  to  try  experiments  in  this  poisonous 
hollow.  On  arriving  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  we  dismounted  and  scrambled  up 
the  side  about  a quarter  of  a mile,  holding  on  by  the  branches  of  trees.  When 
within  a few  yards  of  the  valley  we  experienced  a strong  nauseous  suffocating 
smell,  but  on  coming  close  to  its  edge  this  disagreeable  odour  left  us.  The  valley 
appeared  to  be  about  half  a mile  in  circumference,  oval,  and  the  depth  from  thirty 
to  thirty- five  feet;  the  bottom  quite  flat;  no  vegetation;  strewed  with  some  very 
large  (apparently)  river  stones;  and  the  whole  covered  with  the  skeletons  of  hu 
man  beings,  tigers,  pigs,  deer,  peacocks,  and  all  sorts  of  birds.  We  could  not  per 
ceive  any  vapour  or  any  opening  in  the  ground,  which  last  appeared  to  us  to  be  of  i 
hard  sandy  substance.  It  was  now  proposed  by  one  of  the  party  to  enter  the  val- 
ley ; but  at  the  spot  where  we  were  this  was  difficult  at  least  for  me,  as  one  fals4 
step  would  have  brought  us  to  eternity,  seeing  no  assistance  could  be  given.  W« 
lighted  our  cigars,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  a bamboo,  we  went  down  within 
eighteen  feet  of  the  bottom.  Here  we  did  not  experience  any  difficulty  in  breathing 
but  an  offensive  nauseous  smell  annoyed  us.  We  now  fastened  a dog  to  the  end  of  § 
bamboo  eighteen  feet  long,  and  sent  him  in : we  had  our  watches  in  our  hands,  and 
In  fourteen  seconds  he  fell  on  his  back,  did  not  move  his  limbs  or  look  round,  bul 
continued  to  breathe  eighteen  minutes.  We  then  sent  in  another,  or  rather  he  got 


USE  OF  THE  WATERY  VAPOUR. 


13 


Dther  hand,  that  growing  plants  may  be  able  to  obtain  a suf 
ficiently  large  and  rapid  supply  of  carbonic  acid  from  a gas- 
eous mixture  which  contains  so  little,  they  are  made  to  hang 
out  their  many  waving  leaves  into  the  atmosphere.  Over 
the  surface  of  these  leaves  are  sprinkled  countless  pores  or 
mouths,  which  are  continually  employed  in  separating  and 
drinking  in  carbonic  acid  gas.  The  millions  of  leaves 
hich  a single  tree  spreads  out,  and  the  constant  renewal 
of  the  moving  air  in  which  they  are  suspended,  enable  the 
living  plant  to  draw  an  abundant  supply  for  all  its  wants 
from  an  atmosphere  already  adjusted  to  the  constitution  of 
living  animals.* 

This  constant  action  of  the  leaves  of  plants  is  one  of  the 
natural  agencies  by  which  the  proportion  of  carbonic  acid  in 
the  lower  regions  of  the  atmosphere  is  rendered  less  than  it 
is  in  the  higher  regions. 

So,  also,  the  watery  vapour  of  the  atmosphere  is  not  less 
necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  life.  The  living  plant  con- 
sists of  water  to  the  amount  of  nearly  three-fourths  of  its 
whole  weight,  and  from  the  surface  of  its  leaves  water  is 
continually  rising  into  the  air  in  the  form  of  invisible  vapour. 

Were  the  air  absolutely  dry,  it  would  cause  this  water 
to  evaporate  from  their  leaves  more  rapidly  than  it  could  be 
supplied  to  them  by  the  soil  and  roots.  Thus  they  would 

loose,  and  walked  in  to  where  the  other  dog  was  lying.  He  then  stood  quite  still, 
and  in  ten  minutes  fell  on  his  face,  and  never  afterwards  moved  his  limbs  : he  con- 
tinued to  breathe  seven  minutes.  We  now  tried  a fowl,  which  died  in  a minute  and 
a half.  We  threw  in  another,  which  died  before  touching  the  ground.  During 
these  experiments  we  experienced  a heavy  shower  of  rain  ; but  we  were  so  inter- 
ested by  the  awful  sight  before  us  that  we  did  not  care  for  getting  wet.  On  the  op- 
posite side,  near  a large  stone,  was  the  skeleton  of  a human  being,  who  must  have 
perished  on  his  back,  with  his  right  hand  under  his  head.  From  being  exposed 
to  the  weather  the  bones  were  bleached  as  white  as  ivory.  I was  anxious  to  procure 
this  skeleton,  but  any  attempt  to  get  it  would  have  been  madness.”— Loudon. 

*A  common  lilac-tree  with  a million  of  leaves,  has  about  four  hundred 
thousand  millions  of  pores  or  mouths  at  work,  sucking  in  carbonic  acid ; and  on  a 
tingle  oak  tree,  as  many  as  seven  millions  of  leaves  have  been  counted. 


14 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


speedily  become  flaccid,  and  the  whole  plant  would  droop 
wither,  and  die. 

The  living  animal  in  like  manner  is  made  up  for  the 
most  part  of  water.  A man  of  154  lb.  weight  contains  116 
lb.  of  water,  and  only  38  lb.  of  dry  matter.  From  hi3  skin 
and  from  his  lungs  water  is  continually  evaporating.  Were 
the  air  around  him  perfectly  dry  his  skin  would  become 
parched  and  shrivelled,  and  thirst  would  oppress  his  fever- 
ish frame  The  air  which  he  breathes  from  his  lungs  is 
loaded  with  moisture.  Were  that  which  he  draws  in  en- 
tirely free  from  watery  vapour,  he  would  soon  breathe  out 
the  fluids  which  fill  up  his  tissues,  and  would  dry  up  into  a 
withered  and  ghastly  mummy.  It  is  because  the  simoom 
and  other  hot  winds  of  the  desert  approach  to  this  state  of 
dryness,  that  they  are  so  fatal  to  those  who  travel  on  the 
arid  waste. 

Thus  the  moisture  which  the  atmosphere  contains  is  also 
essential  to  the  maintenance  of  the  present  condition,  both 
of  animal  and  vegetable  life : it  pervades  the  leaves  and 
pores  of  plants,  and  finds  admission  to  the  lungs  and  general 
system  of  animals. 

There  are,  besides,  other  i^gautiful  purposes  which  this 
moisture  serves.  When  the  summer  sun  has  sunk  beneath 
the  horizon,  and  coolness  revisits  the  scorched  plant  and 
soil,  the  grateful  dew  descends  along  with  it  and  moistens 
alike  the  green  leaf  and  the  thirsty  land — the  invisible 
moisture  of  the  air  thickens  into  hazy  mists,  and  settles  in 
tiny  pearls  on  every  cool  thing.  How  thankful  for  this 
nightly  dew  has  nature  everywhere  and  always  appeared 
and  how  have  poets  in  every  age  sung  of  its  beauty  and  be- 
neficence ! 

Let  us  attend  for  a moment  to  the  cause  of  this  descent 
of  the  dew,  and  to  the  way  in  which  it  seems  to  select,  as  it 
were,  the  spots  on  which  it  will  fall. 


HOW  DEW  FALLS. 


15 


All  bodies  on  tbe  surface  of  the  earth  radiate,  or  throw 
out  rays  of  heat  in  straight  lines — every  warmer  body  to 
every  colder  — and  the  whole  earth  itself  is  continually 
sending  rays  of  heat  upwards  through  the  clear  air  into  free 
cold  space.  Thus  on  the  earth’s  surface  all  bodies  strive,  as 
it  were,  after  an  equality  of  temperature  (an  equilibrium  of 
heat),  while  the  surface  as  a whole  tends  gradually  towards  a 
cooler  state.  But  while  the  sun  shines  on  any  spot  this 
cooling  will  not  take  place,  for  the  surface  there  receives  for 
the  time  more  heat  than  it  gives  off ; and,  when  the  sun  goes 
down,  if  the  clear  sky  be  shut  out  by  a canopy  of  clouds, 
these  will  arrest  and  again  throw  back  to  the  earth  a portion 
of  the  heat  which  escapes  by  radiation,  and  will  thus  prevent 
it  from  being  dissipated.  At  night,  then,  when  the  sun  is 
absent,  the  earth  will  cool  the  most — on  clear  nights  also 
more  than  when  it  is  cloudy ; and  when  clouds  only  partially 
obscure  the  sky,  those  parts  will  become  coolest  which  look 
towards  the  clearest  portions  of  the  heavens. 

Again,  the  quantity  of  vapour  which  the  air  is  capable  of 
holding  in  suspension  is  dependent  upon  its  temperature.  At 
high  temperatures,  in  warm  climates,  or  in  warm  weather,  it 
can  sustain  more — at  low  temperatures,  or  in  cold  weather, 
less.  Hence,  when  a current  of  comparatively  warm  air, 
loaded  with  moisture,  ascends  to,  or  comes  in  contact  with, 
a cold  mountain-top,  it  is  cooled  down,  is  rendered  incapable 
of  holding  the  whole  of  the  vapour  in  suspension,  and  there- 
fore leaves  behind,  in  the  form  of  a mist  or  cloud  encapping 
the  lofty  summit,  a portion  of  its  watery  burden.  The 
aqueous  particles  which  float  in  this  mist  appear  again  on 
the  plains  below,  in  the  form  of  streams  or  springs,  which 
bring  nourishment  at  once,  and  a grateful  relief  to  the 
thirsty  soil. 

So,  when  the  surface  cools  by  radiation,  the  air  in  contact 
with  it  must  cool  also ; and,  like  the  warm  currents  on  the 


16 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


mountain  side,  must  forsake  a portion  of  the  watery  vapoui 
it  has  hitherto  retained.  This  water,  like  the  floating  mist 
on  the  hills,  descends  in  particles  almost  infinitely  minute. 
These  particles  collect  on  every  leaflet,  and  suspend  them 
selves  from  every  blade  of  grass  in  drops  of  “ pearly  dew.” 

And  mark  here  a beautiful  adaptation.  Different  sub- 
stances are  endowed  with  the  property  of  radiating  their 
heat,  and  of  thus  becoming  cool  with  different  degrees  of 
rapidity.  Those  substances  which  in  the  air  become  cool 
first  must  also  attract  first,  and  most  abundantly,  the  parti- 
cles of  falling  dew.  Thus,  in  the  cool  of  a summer’s  evening 
the  grass-plot  is  wet,  while  the  gravel-walk  is  dry ; and  the 
thirsty  pasture  and  every  green  leaf  are  drinking  in  the 
descending  moisture,  while  the  naked  land  and  the  barren 
highway  are  still  unconscious  of  its  fall. 

And  from  the  same  atmospheric  store  of  watery  vapour 
come  the  refreshing  showers  which  descend  in  our  temperate 
zone,  and  the  rushing  rains  which  fall  in  torrents  within  the 
tropical  regions — only  the  mode  in  which  they  are  made  to 
descend  is  somewhat  different. 

In  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere  currents  of  cold 
air  are  continually  rushing  from  the  north,  and  currents  of 
warm  air  from  the  south.  When  two  such  currents  of  un- 
equal temperature,  each  loaded  with  moisture,  meet  in  the 
atmosphere,  they  mix,  and  the  mixture  has  the  mean  tempe- 
rature of  the  two ; but  air  of  this  mean  temperature  is  in- 
capable of  holding  in  suspension  the  mean  quantity  of  watery 
vapour  contained  in  the  two  currents.  Hence,  as  on  the 
mountain  side,  a cloud  is  formed,  and  the  excess  of  moisture 
collecting  into  drops,  falls  to  the  earth  in  the  form  of  rain. 

When  we  consider  how  small  a proportion  of  watery 
vapour  exists  in  the  air — that  were  it  all  to  come  down  at 
once  over  the  whole  earth,  it  would  cover  the  surface  only 
to  a depth  of  5 inches — we  cannot  think  without  amazement 


HOW  RAIN  FALLS. 


1? 


of  the  vast  and  continuous  effects  it  produces.  The  quantity 
of  rain  which  falls  yearly  on  our  islands  would  cover  them, 
were  it  all  to  fall  at  once,  to  a depth  of  from  25  to  30  inches ; 
and,  except  the  table-land  of  central  Spain,  there  are  few 
places  in  western  Europe  where  the  depth  of  yearly  rain  is 
less  than  20  inches.  And  all  this  rain  descends  from  an 
atmosphere  which  does  not  contain  more,  probably,  at  any  one 
time,  than  falls  yearly  in  dew  alone  over  the  whole  earth. # 

In  descending,  also,  this  rain  discharges  another  office : 
it  washes  the  air  as  it  passes  through  it,  dissolving  and  carry- 
ing down  those  accidental  vapours  which,  though  unwhole- 
some to  man,  are  yet  fitted  to  assist  the  growth  of  plants. 
It  thus  ministers  in  another  double  manner  to  our  health 
and  comfort,  purifying  the  air  we  breathe,  and  feeding  the 
plants  on  which  we  live. 

As  soon,  again,  as  the  rain  ceases  to  fall,  and  the  clear 
sky  permits  the  sun’s  rays  once  more  to  warm  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  vapours  begin  to  rise  anew,  and  the  sweeping 
winds  dry  up  the  rains  and  dews  from  its  moistened  surface. 
There  are  regions  of  the  globe,  also,  where  unending  sum- 
mer plays  on  the  surface  of  the  wide  seas,  and  causes  a per- 
petual evaporation  to  lift  up  unceasing  supplies  of  water 
into  the  air.  These  supplies  the  wind  wafts  to  other 
regions ; and  thus  the  water  which  descends  in  rain  or  dew 
in  one  spot,  is  replaced  by  that  which  mounts  up  in  vapour 
from  another.  And  all  this  to  maintain  unbroken  that  nice 
adjustment  which  fits  the  constitution  of  the  atmosphere  to 
the  wants  of  living  things  ! 

How  beautiful  is  the  arrangement  by  which  water  is 
thus  constantly  evaporated  or  distilled,  as  it  were,  into  the 
atmosphere — more  largely  from  some,  more  sparingly  from 

* How,  among  the  hills  in  tropical  countries,  the  rain  really  rushes  down  may  ho 
inferred  from  the  fact,  that  among  the  Khassaya  hills,  north  of  Calcutta,  the  yearly 
fidl  of  rain  amounts  to  610  inches  (50  feet),  of  which  550  fall  in  the  six  rainy  months, 
beginning  in  May.  As  much  as  25|  inches  have  been  observed  to  fall  in  a single  day 


18 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


other  spots — then  diffused  equally  through  the  wide  and 
restless  air,  and  afterwards  precipitated  again  in  refreshing 
showers  which  cleanse  the  tainted  air,  or  in  long-mysterious 
dews.  But  how  much  more  beautiful  the  contrivance — I 
might  almost  say  the  instinctive  tendency — by  which  the  dew 
selects  the  objects  on  which  it  delights  to  fall ; descending  first 
on  every  living  plant,  copiously  ministering  to  the  wants  of  each, 
and  expending  its  superfluity  only  on  the  unproductive  waste ! 

And  equally  kind  and  beautiful,  when  understood,  nature 
is  seen  to  be  in  all  her  operations.  Neither  skill  nor  mate- 
rials are  ever  wasted ; and  yet  she  ungrudgingly  dispenses 
her  favours  apparently  without  measure,  and  has  subjected 
dead  matter  to  laws  which  compel  it  to  minister,  and  yet 
with  a most  ready  willingness,  to  the  wants  and  comforts  of 
every  living  thing. 

Four  substances,  therefore — oxygen,  nitrogen,  carbonic 
acid,  and  watery  vapour — are  essential  to  the  composition 
of  the  atmosphere,  and  they  are  adjusted,  both  in  kind  and 
quantity,  to  the  existing  condition  of  things.  But  besides 
these,  the  air  contains  also  many  other  substances  in  minute 
and  indefinite  proportions.  Of  these,  some  are  formed  in 
the  air  itself,  some  rise  in  vapour  from  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  some  ascend  from  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

Of  those  which  are  formed  in  the  air  itself,  two  are  de- 
serving of  especial  mention — ozone,  and  nitric  acid. 

The  former  of  these  is  merely  oxygen  gas  in  what  is 
called  a more  exalted  chemical  condition  than  that  in  which 
it  usually  exists.  Into  this  condition  it  is  brought  by  the 
action  of  the  sun’s  rays,  of  electricity,  and  of  many  other 
agencies.  In  this  form  it  acts  upon  and  combines  more 
readily  with  all  other  substances.  Among  the  other  useful 
purposes  it  is  supposed  to  serve,  I mention  the  oxidation* 


* When  a substance  combines  with  oxygen,  it  is  said  to  be  oxidised,  or  to  imdon 
fo  oxidation. 


PRODUCTION  OF  NITRIC  ACID. 


19 


of  the  organic,  often  noxious,  substances  which  rise  into  the 
atmosphere,  and  of  those  vegetable  and  other  compounds  in 
the  soil,  upon  which  depend  its  general  fertility,  and  the 
abundant  production  of  the  food  of  plants. 

Ozone  is  probably  never  absent  from  the  atmosphere  ; 
but  it  is  always  present  in  a proportion  too  minute  to  admit 
of  being  determined  either  by  weight  or  by  measure.  It 
is  more  abundant  in  winter,  on  the  tops  of  mountains,  and 
after  a storm  has  purified  the  air.  It  is  probably  more  ser- 
viceable to  us  than  we  are  yet  aware  of. 

Nitric  acid , the  other  important  substance  I have  men- 
tioned as  being  formed  in  the  air,  is  probably  more  abundant 
than  ozone.  It  is  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  aqua- 
fortis, and  consists  of  nitrogen  and  oxygen  only — the  two 
main  constituents  of  the  atmosphere.  Every  flash  of  light- 
ning which  darts  across  the  sky,  and  every  electric  spark, 
great  or  small,  which  in  any  other  form  passes  through  the 
air,  causes  a minute  proportion  of  these  two  gases,  along  the 
line  of  its  course,  to  unite  together  and  produce  nitric  acid. 
And  as  this  passage  of  electricity  through  the  air  is  frequent 
almost  everywhere,  and  in  the  tropical  regions  is  distinctly 
visible  nearly  every  day  of  the  year,  I am  inclined  to  regard 
this  acid  as  a constant  constituent  of  atmospheric  air. 
Whether  it  is  essential  or  indispensable  to  the  present  con- 
dition of  things,  we  have  not  as  yet  the  means  of  determin- 
ing ; but  it  has  been  ascertained  by  actual  experiment  that 
this  acid  is  at  least  very  frequently  present  in  the  air,  even 
of  European  countries,  and  falling  rain  is  sometimes  actually 
sour  from  the  quantity  of  nitric  acid  it  contains.  This  acid 
is  very  favourable  to  vegetable  growth — and  is,  indeed,  one 
of  the  substances  which  the  falling  rains  and  dews  are  ap- 
pointed to  wash  out  of  the  air,  and  in  doing  so  to  bring 
down  to  plants  a valuable  form  of  food,  which  is  thus  daily 
prepared  for  them  among  the  winds  of  heaven. 

2 


20 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE. 


From  tlie  surface  of  the  earth,  again,  there  arise  continu- 
ally  into  the  air  vapours  and  gases  of  various  kinds.  Tho 
vegetable  and  animal  bodies  which  undergo  decay  in  mani- 
fold circumstances,  and  the  numerous  substances  which  are 
burned  in  the  air,  all  produce  chemical  compounds,  which, 
being  volatile  or  gaseous,  ascend  and  mingle  with  the  atmos- 
phere. Some  of  these,  like  ammonia  and  sulphuretted  hy- 
drogen, are  perceptible  to  the  smell,  while  others  are  alto- 
gether inappreciable  by  the  senses.  The  steaming  marsh 
also,  beneath  the  summer’s  sun,  sends  forth  fatal  miasms 
which  prostrate  the  body  in  fever,  though  neither  the  senses 
can  perceive,  nor  our  more  refined  chemical  tests  as  yet  de- 
tect their  presence ; living  volcanoes  likewise  belch  forth 
their  vapours ; and  a thousand  chemical  operations,  natural 
and  artificial,  pour  out  their  fetid  streams  and  volatile  ex- 
halations. All  these  ascend  from  the  earth,  are  caught  by 
the  winds,  wafted  more  or  less  speedily  from  their  birth- 
place, and  mingle  with  the  general  air.  Thus  the  atmos- 
phere must  contain  accidental  substances  almost  without 
end,  which  are  not  essential  to  its  constitution,  and  which 
rise  into  the  aerial  sea  because  of  their  lightness,  just  as 
liquid  impurities  spontaneously  flow,  or  solid  impurities  are 
washed  down  by  the  rivers  into  the  waters  of  the  great 
ocean. 

Of  these  substances  which  thus  ascend  from  the  earth  in 
the  form  of  gas,  ammonia  deserves  especial  notice,  because 
of  the  important  function  which  some  agricultural  writers 
have  ascribed  to  it  in  reference  to  vegetable  growth.  This 
gas,  which  is  familiar  to  every  one  in  the  smell  of  common 
hartshorn,*  is  formed  during  the  putrefaction  of  animal  and 
vegetable  substances  in  the  presence  of  water  and  air,  and  is 
the  principal  cause  of  the  smell  which  heaps  of  such  putrefy- 

* The  liquid  hartshorn  of  the  shops  is  only  water  impregnated  with  the  gas  am 

monia. 


SALINE  MATTERS  FROM  THE  SEA. 


21 


in g matters  give  off.  It  is  continually  rising,  therefore,  into 
the  atmosphere  from  many  parts  of  the  earth’s  surface.  It 
has  consequently  been  found  in  very  minute  quantity  in  the 
air,  wherever  it  has  been  sought  for.  Some,  therefore,  deem 
it  an  essential  constituent  of  our  air.  In  this  respect,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  distinguished  from  nitric  acid,  which  we 
know  to  be  produced  in  the  atmosphere  itself  by  purely 
physical  causes,  and  to  be  altogether  independent  of  the  pre- 
vious existence  of  life.  It  is  possible,  as  I have  elsewhere 
shown,*  that  ammonia  may  be  so  produced  also ; in  which 
case  we  might  not  only  acknowledge  it  for  an  essential  con- 
stituent of  the  atmosphere,  but  discover  in  its  existence,  and 
constant  reproduction  there,  a wise  provision  for  the  main- 
tenance of  vegetable  growth. 

Further,  from  the  ever-moving  sea,  the  winds  which  raise 
it  into  rolling  waves,  and  lash  it  into  foam,  sweep  upwards 
the  light  spray,  and  mingle  it  with  the  rushing  air.  Thus, 
far  inland  and  over  high  mountains,  the  salty  particles  are 
carried,  and  all  the  contents  of  sea  water  are  mingled  with 
the  universal  atmosphere.  Hence  the  host  of  foreign  sub- 
stances which  must  float  around  us,  commingled  with  those 
which  we  know  to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  is  almost  inconceivable. 

The  accumulation  of  all  these  foreign  matters  in  the  air 
would,  in  course  of  time,  render  it  unwholesome  to  animal 
life — perhaps  unfit  for  the  healthy  development  even  of  vege- 
table forms.  But  the  waters  of  heaven,  as  I have  described, 
ascend  and  descend  continually  to  wash  and  purify  it.  They 
serve  as  a natural  conservative  check. 

Thus  simple  as  the  air  appears,  its  scientific  history  as  a 
whole  is  somewhat  complicated.  The  adjustment  of  its  con- 
stituents involves  many  interesting  particulars,  and  the  ar« 


* Lectures  on  Agricultural  Chemistry  and  Geology , second  edition,  p.  288L 


22 


THE  AIR  WE  EREATHE. 


rangements  by  which  the  constant  presence  of  its  essential 
constituents  is  secured,  both  in  kind  and  quantity,  are  very 
numerous ; yet  we  cannot  fail  to  perceive  both  a physical 
beauty,  and  a wise  contrivance  in  them  all. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK. 


jnportance  of  water  in  nature. — Composition  of  water.— Hydrogen  gas ; how  prepared ; 
the  lightest  of  known  substances,  and  an  inflammable  gas ; exists  in  nearly  all  com- 
bustible substances;  is  always  converted  into  water  when  these  substances  are 
burned. — In  water  hydrogen  is  combined  with  oxygen. — What  is  meant  by  a che- 
mical combination. — Water  without  taste  and  smell;  importance  of  this.— Cooling 
property  of  water. — Eelation  of water  to  other  liquids. — It  dissolves  many  solid  sub- 
stances ; hence  natural  water  never  pure. — Quantity  of  mineral  matter  in  some 
known  river,  spring,  and  sea  waters. — Composition  of  the  solid  matter  in  sea  water ; 
in  the  Thames  water  at  Kew ; and  in  that  of  the  Kent  Water  Company. — Lime 
held  in  solution  in  water  by  carbonic  acid. — Why  calcareous  waters  incrust  their 
channels,  petrify,  and  deposit  sediments  in  boilers. — Impurity  of  spring  waters  in 
large  towns,  about  farmhouses,  and  near  graveyards. — Composition  of  well  water 
£rom  Highgate  Hill. — Well  waters  in  the  dunes  of  Bordeaux ; their  analogy  to  the 
waters  of  Marah. — Water  absorbs  its  own  bulk  of  carbonic  acid  at  all  pressures. 
— How  this  explains  the  liveliness  of  champagne  and  soda-water,  the  bursting 
of  bottles,  the  briskhess  and  deadness  of  beer,  &c.— Excess  of  oxygen  in  the  air 
contained  in  water;  importance  of  this  to  the  lives  of  fishes. — More  oxygen  near 
the  surface  of  the  sea. — Why  air  obtained  from  snow  contains  less  oxygen. 

The  water  we  drink  is  next  in  importance  to  the  air  we 
breathe.  It  forms  three-fourths  of  the  weight  of  living 
animals  and  plants,  is  the  most  abundant  substance  we  meet 
with  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  covers,  to  an  unknown 
depth,  at  least  three-fourths  of  its  entire  surface. 

Pure  water  consists  of  two  simple  or  elementary  sub- 
stances,* oxygen  and  hydrogen.  The  former  of  these  exists 

* By  simple  or  elementary  substances,  chemists  understand  such  as  cannot  by 
any  known  means  be  resolved  or  split  up  into  more  than  one : sulphur,  phosphorus, 
gold,  silver,  iron,  &c.,  are  examples  of  such  simple  substatfces. 


24 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK. 


also  in  common  air,  and  has  been  described  in  the  previous 
chapter. 

Hydrogen  is  a kind  of  air  or  gas  which,  when  pure,  is 
without  colour,  taste,  or  smell.  It  differs,  however,  from  all 
the  three  gases  (oxygen,  nitrogen,  and  carbonic  acid)  de- 
scribed in  the  preceding  chapter ; first , in  being  the  lightest 
of  all  known  substances ; and,  second , in  taking  fire,  and 
burning  in  the  air  when  a lighted  taper  is  brought  near  it. 

It  is  readily  prepared  by  putting 
a few  pieces  of  metallic  zinc  or  iron 
into  a bottle  or  flask,  and  pouring 
over  them  a quantity  of  oil  of  vitriol 
(sulphuric  acid)  diluted  with  twice 
its  weight  of  water.  When  a suffi- 
cient quantity  of  the  gas  has  been 
produced  to  drive  out  the  common 
air  from  the  bottle,  a gas  jet-burner, 
or  a bit  of  glass  tube,  or  of  a tobacco 
pipe  thrust  through  a cork,  may  be 
put  into  the  mouth  of  the  bottle, 
when  a jet  of  gas  will  issue  which 
may  be  lighted  by  a taper.  It  burns 
with  a very  pale  flame.  When  a 
perfectly  dry,  cool,  glass  tumbler  or 
bottle  is  held  over  the  flame  (fig.  7), 
dew  will  be  seen  to  condense  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  glass,  which  will 
gradually  collect  into  little  visible  globules,  and  will  finally 
trickle  down  in  the  form  of  drops  of  pure  water.  This 
water  is  formed  by  the  burning  of  the  hydrogen  from 
the  bottle  in  the  oxygen  of  the  air.  During  this  burning 
it  combines  with  the  oxygen,  and  water  is  produced.  The 
extreme  lightness  of  the  hydrogen  may  be  shown  by  ex- 
tinguishing the  gas,  and  causing  it  to  ascend  into  a small 


LIGHTNESS  OF  HYDROGEN  GAS. 


25 


empty  balloon  placed  over  the  jet*  (fig.  8).  When  the  bal- 
loon is  full  of  gas  it  will  readily  ascend,  showing  not  only 
that  the  hydrogen  is  lighter  than 
common  air,  but  that  it  is  so  much 
lighter  as  to  be  able  to  raise  heavy 
bodies  through  the  air  along  with 
it.  It  is  to  the  lightness  of  this 
gas  that  we  owe  the  power  of  travel- 
ling through  the  air  in  ordinary 
balloons. 

Hydrogen  exists  in  a great  many 
other  substances  besides  water — in 
bituminous  coal,  in  wood,  in  oils  and 
fats,  in  coal  gas,  and  in  nearly  all 
combustible  substances  ; but  when- 
ever it  is  completely  burned  in  the 
air,  water  is  formed  by  its  union  with 
oxygen,  as  in  the  burning  of  the 
simple  jet  above  described.  Thus, 
in  nearly  all  cases  of  combustion, 
water  is  one  of  the  substances  pro- 
duced, though  it  generally  rises  into 
the  air  in  the  form  of  invisible  vapour. 

Water  thus  formed  consists  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  ic 
the  proportions  by  weight  of — 

Per  cent 

Oxygen, 8 or  88.88 

Hydrogen, 1 „ 11.11 

9 „ 100 

-or  every  9 lb.  of  pure  water  contain  8 lb.  of  oxygen  and  1 lb 
jf  hydrogen. 

In  atmospheric  air,  as  we  have  seen,  there  are  at  least 


Fig.  8. 


♦ Such  little  balloons,  made  of  thin  membranes,  are  sold  by  tlie  opticians. 


26 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK. 


four  substances  present  which  are  essential  to  its  existence 
But  between  air  and  water  there  is  this  important  chemical  dis- 
tinction, that  in  the  former  the  constituents  are  merely  mixed 
together,  while  in  the  latter  they  are  chemically  combined . 
When  nitrogen  and  oxygen  are  mixed  together  to  form  com- 
mon  air,  each  of  them  retains  its  gaseous  form,  and  all  its 
properties  unaltered ; but  when  hydrogen  and  oxygen  aro 
combined  to  form  water,  they  severally  lose  both  their  origi 
nal  gaseous  form,  and  all  their  distinctive  properties,  both 
physical  and  chemical.  Water  is  not  light,  like  hydrogen, 
nor  will  it  burn  as  that  gas  does ; neither  will  bodies  burn 
in  it  as  they  do  so  readily  and  brilliantly  in  oxygen  gas. 

Now,  when  bodies  combine  chemically,  they  always  form 
a new  substance  different  in  its  properties  from  thoso  which 
have  been  employed  in  producing  it ; and,  indeed,  it  is  one 
of  the  wonders  which  modern  chemistry  has  made  known  to 
us,  that  hydrogen,  which  burns  so  readily,  should  form  so 
large  a part  of  water,  our  great  extinguisher  of  flame ; and 
that  oxygen,  so  indispensable  to  animal  life,  should  form 
eight-ninths  of  a liquid  in  which  few  terrestrial  animals  can 
live  for  more  than  three  or  four  seconds  of  time. 

That  water  is  indispensable  to  animal  and  vegetable  life, 
appears  both  from  its  forming  so  large  a proportion  of  the 
bodies  of  living  animals  and  plants,  and  from  some  other 
considerations  which  have  been  stated  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  But  many  of  the  properties  which  water  possesses 
are  wonderfully  conducive  to  our  comfort,  to  the  supply  of 
our  daily  wants,  and  to  the  maintenance  of  the  existing 
condition  of  things. 

1°.  Thus,  even  the  unheeded  property  of  its  freedom  from 
smell  and  taste  is  important  to  animal  comfort.  Sweet 
odours  are  grateful  to  our  nostrils  at  times,  and  pleasant 
savours  give  a relish  to  our  rarer  kinds  of  food.  But  health 
fails  in  an  atmosphere  which  is  ever  loaded  with  incense  and 


PROPERTIES  OF  PURE  WATER. 


27 


perfumes,  or  where  the  palate  is  daily  pampered  with  high- 
seasoned  dishes  and  constant  sweets.  The  nerves  of  smell 
and  taste  do  not  bear  patiently  a constant  irritation,  and 
the  whole  body  suffers  when  a single  nerve  is  continually 
jarred.  Hence  it  is  that  water  and  air,  which  have  to  enter 
so  often  into  the  animal  body,  and  to  penetrate  to  its  most 
delicate  and  most  sensitive  organs  and  tissues,  are  made  so 
destitute  of  sensible  properties  that  they  can  come  and  go 
to  any  part  of  the  frame  without  being  perceived.  Noise- 
lessly, as  it  were,  they  glide  over  the  most  touchy  nerves ; 
and,  so  long  as  they  are  tolerably  pure,  they  may  make  a 
thousand  visits  to  the  extremest  parts  of  the  body  without 
producing  the  most  momentary  irritation  or  sense  of  pain. 
Externally,  also,  they  can  be  applied  to  the  most  delicate, 
inflamed,  or  skinless  parts  of  the  body,  not  only  without 
irritating,  but  generally  with  the  most  grateful  and  soothing 
effects.  These  negative  properties,  which  are  common  both 
to  air  and  water — though,  as  I have  said,  they  are  rarely 
thought  of — are  nevertheless  most  essential  to  our  daily 
comfort. 

2°.  Again,  water  possesses  a cooling  property,  which  is 
very  grateful  to  all  living  things.  The  priceless  value  of 
water  in  “ a dry  and  thirsty  land  ” arises  mainly  from  the 
necessity  of  constantly  supplying  that  which,  in  a dry  and 
warm  atmosphere,  is  constantly  evaporating  from  the  skin  and 
the  lungs.  But  in  all  climates  water  has  a cooling  power 
which  gives  it  a new  value  to  the  hot  and  fevered  animal. 
When  taken  into  the  mouth  and  stomach,  or  when  poured 
over  the  inflamed  skin,  it  cools  more  than  an  equal  weight 
of  any  other  liquid  or  solid  substance  we  could  apply.  This 
arises  from  the  circumstance,  that  it  takes  more  heat  to  give 
a sensible  warmth  to  water  than  to  an  equal  weight  of  any 
other  common  substance.  Thus  the  same  quantity  of  heat 
which  is  required  to  raise  the  temperature  of  1 lb.  of  water 


28 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK 


a single  degree  (from  60°  to  61°  for  example),  would  giva 
an  equal  increase  of  temperature  to  30  lb.  of  quicksilver , 
and  so,  again,  to  convert  water  into  vapour,  requires  more 
heat  than  an  equal  weight  of  any  other  liquid  we  consume. 
Hence,  when  water  evaporates  from  the  skin,  it  serves  as  a 
constant  cooler  of  the  surface  ; while  the  vapour,  which 
escapes  with  the  breath,  cools  equally  the  interior  of  the 
body.  It  is  really  very  interesting  to  observe  how  the  great 
capacity  of  liquid  water  for  heat  makes  it  so  gratefully  cool- 
ing as  it  enters  the  body ; and  how  its  still  greater  capacity 
for  heat,  when  passing  from  the  liquid  state  to  the  state  of 
steam,  enables  it  so  constantly  to  bear  away  from  us  the 
germs  of  fever,  as  it  escapes  from  our  bodies  in  the  form  of 
insensible  vapour. 

3°.  But  the  peculiar  composition  of  water  is  also  a very 
important  circumstance  to  animal  and  vegetable  life.  It 
consists  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  ; and  all  the  solid  parts  of 
animals  and  plants  contain  these  same  elements  in  large  pro- 
portion. In  the  dry  wood  of  the  tree,  for  example,  and  inN 
the  dry  flesh  and  bone  of  the  animal,  both  are  present.  Now, 
as  the  plant  and  animal  increase  in  size,  oxygen  and  hydro- 
gen are  required  for  the  formation  of  their  growing  parts, 
and  water  is  everywhere  at  hand  to  supply  these  necessary 
ingredients.  This  is  a chemical  duty  which  no  other  liquid 
but  water  could  equally  perform.  Water,  in  discharging 
this  duty,  is  not  merely  the  drink,  as  we  usually  call  it,  but 
is  really  part  of  the  food  both  of  animal  and  plant. 

4°.  Further,  pure  water  possesses  the  property  of  mix- 
ing with  some  other  fluids,  such  as  alcohol  (strong  spirits) 
in  all  proportions,  merely  weakening  or  diluting  their 
strength.  With  others,  again — as  with  oil — it  refuses  to 
mingle.  Solid  substances  it  has  the  property  of  dissolving ; 
and  upon  this  property  depend  many  of  the  most  useful  pur- 
poses served  by  water,  in  reference  both  to  animal  and  vege- 
table life. 


WATER  NEVER  PURE  IN  NAUURE. 


29 


If  a piece  of  sugar  and  a piece  of  glass  be  put  together 
into  a quantity  of  water,  the  former  will  dissolve  and  dis- 
appear, while  the  water  will  remain  for  any  length  of  time 
in  the  water  unaltered  in  form  or  in  weight.  Water  does 
not  dissolve  all  bodies  therefore.  Sugar  is  soluble — glass  is 
insoluble  in  this  liquid. 

Again,  if  into  two  equal  quantities  of  water  we  introduce 
loaf-sugar  and  common  salt — the  sugar  into  the  one  and  the 
salt  into  the  other — as  long  as  they  are  respectively  dis- 
solved and  disappear,  we  shall  see  that  1 lb.  of  water  will 
dissolve  perhaps  2 lb.  of  sugar,  forming  a thick  syrup, 
while  it  will  only  dissolve  5J  oz.  of  common  salt.  Thus,  of 
those  substances  which  dissolve  in  water,  some  are  much 
more  soluble — disappear,  that  is,  in  larger  quantity  than 
others  do. 

In  nature,  water  is  never  found  perfectly  pure ; that 
which  descends  in  rain  is  contaminated  by  the  impurities  it 
washes  out  of  the  air ; that  which  rises  in  springs,  by  the 
substances  it  meets  with  in  the  earth  itself.  In  rivers,  the 
impurity  of  the  water  is  frequently  visible  to  the  eye. 
It  is  often  of  a red  colour  as  it  flows  through  rocks  of  red 
marl  which  contain  much  oxide  of  iron  in  their  composition  ; 
it  descends  milky  from  the  glaciers  of  Iceland  and  the  slopes 
of  the  Andes,  because  of  the  white  earth  it  holds  in  suspension; 
it  is  often  grey  or  brown  in  our  muddiest  English  rivers ; 
it  is  always  brown  where  it  issues  from  boggy  lakes,  or  runs 
across  a peaty  country ; it  is  sometimes  black  to  the  eye 
when  the  quantity  of  vegetable  matter  is  excessive,  as  in  the 
Rio  Negro  of  South  America ; and  it  is  green  in  the  Gey- 
sers of  Iceland,  in  the  Swiss  lakes,  among  the  islands  of  the 
South  Sea,  and  around  our  own  islands,  because  of  the  yellow 
matters  which  it  everywhere  holds  in  suspension  or  solution. 
Only  in  clear  and  deep  waters — like  those  of  the  Bay  of 
Naples,  and  in  parts  of  the  Pacific,  where  minute  objects 


30 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK. 


may  be  seen  on  the  bottom  some  hundreds  of  feet  down— is 
the  real  blue  colour  natural  to  water,  in  large  masses,  dis- 
tinctly perceptible.* 

But  among  the  rocky  and  other  materials  which  water 
meets  with  in  and  upon  the  earth,  there  are  many  which  it 
can  dissolve,  as  it  does  salt  and  sugar,  and  the  presence  of 
which  cannot  be  detected  by  the  sense  of  sight.  Hence  the 
clearest  and  brightest  of  waters — those  of  springs  and  trans- 
parent rivers,  even  when  filtered — are  never  pure  ; they  all 
contain  in  solution  a greater  or  less  quantity  of  saline  matter, 
sometimes  so  much  as  to  give  them  a decided  taste,  and  tc 
form  what  are  hence  called  mineral  waters. 

Among  the  purest  natural  waters  hitherto  examined  is 
that  of  the  Loka,  in  the  north  of  Sweden,  which  flows  over 
hard  impenetrable  granite  and  other  rocks,  upon  which 
water  produces  little  impression.  It  contains  only  2V  of  a 
grain  (0.0566)  of  solid  mineral  matter  in  the  imperial  gallon. 
Some  waters  in  the  granite  regions  of  the  north  of  Scotland, 
and  even  some  springs  which  rise  through  the  green-sand  in 
Surrey,  contain  as  little  as  4 or  5 grains  in  the  gallon.  The 
water  which  is  supplied  to  the  city  of  Edinburgh  contains 
7 to  1 4 grains  in  the  gallon, f and  that  of  the  Thames,  near 
London,  about  21.  These  are  both  comparatively  pure 
waters,  and  are  very  good  for  general  consumption.  That 
of  the  river  "Wear,  which  supplies  the  city  of  Durham,  con- 
tains 15|  grains  in  the  gallon,  and  is  still  a good  water  for 
domestic  use.  That  which  is  used  in  the  town  of  Sunder- 
land, and  is  obtained  from  the  lower  new  red  sandstone, 
contains  27  grains  in  the  gallon.  Some  of  the  other  waters 
supplied  to  and  used  in  London  and  its  neighbourhood, 

* This  is  the  blue  which  is  seen  in  the  azure  grotto  of  the  Isle  of  Capri,  in 
the  Bay  of  Naples,  and  in  the  deep,  indigo-like  waters  of  some  parts  of  the  MedK 
terranean  and  Adriatic  seas. 

t This  is  1 to  2 parts  by  weight  in  10,000  of  the  waters— a gallon  of  pure  wate* 
it  60°  Fahr.  weighing  TO, 000  grains. 


SALINE  MATTER  IN  LONDON  WATERS. 


31 


and  which  are  not  derived  from  the  Thames,  contain,  in  a 
gallon — 


New  River  Company, 

East  London  Water  Company, 
Kent  Water  Company, 
Hampstead  Water  Company, 
Deep-bore  wells, 


' 19$  grs.  in  the  gallon. 
23* 

29* 

35*  to  40  „ „ 

33  to  33  ,,  „ 


Other  drinking-waters  contain  more  even  than  these. 
Some  which  are  in  constant  use  contain  twice  as  much — - 
even  the  waters  of  the  holy  Jordan  contain  73  grains  to  the 
gallon — but  generally,  in  the  waters  of  average  purity  which 
are  employed  for  domestic  purposes,  there  are  not  present 
more  than  from  20  to  30  grains  of  solid  matter  in  the  impe- 
rial gallon. 

Generally  speaking  also,  rain  water  which  falls  in  remote 
country  districts  is  the  purest ; then  comes  river  water ; 
next,  the  water  of  lakes ; after  these,  common  spring-waters ; 
and  then  the  water  of  mineral  springs.  The  waters  of  the 
Black  Sea,  and  the  Sea  of  Azof,  which  are  only  brackish, 
follow  next ; then  those  of  the  great  ocean  ; then  those  of 
the  Mediterranean,*  and  inland  sea ; and  last  of  all  come 
those  of  lakes  which,  like  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  Dead  Sea, 
and  Lake  Aral,  possess  no  known  outlet.  All  the  solid 
matter  which  the  rivers  carry  into  the  sea  remains  there, 
while  the  water  which  brings  it  is  continually  rising  again 
in  vapor.  This  vapor,  as  we  have  seen,  descends  in  the 
form  of  rain  on  the  interior  of  continents,  and  there  dis 
solves,  and  thence  carries  down  new  supplies  of  mineral 
matter  to  the  sea.  In  this  way  saline  matter  has  accumu- 
lated in  the  ocean  till  its  waters  have  become  briny  and  bit- 
ter to  the  taste.  In  the  same  way,  also,  it  has  accumulated 
in  the  Caspian  and  Dead  Seas — the  more  rapid  evaporation 

* Off  the  coast  of  Havre,  for  example,  the  sea  water  does  not  contain  more  than 
3} ; while  In  the  Mediterranean  it  contains  3*  per  cent  of  saline  matter.  The  com- 
position or  quality  of  t~is  saline  matter  is  nearly  the  same  in  each  case. 


32 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK. 


in  these  parts  of  the  world,  the  unfrequent  rains,  and  proba- 
bly the  neighborhood  of  deposits  of  rock-salt,  haying  aided 
in  making  these  inland  waters  so  much  salter  than  those  of 
the  great  oceans.  The  waters  of  the  great  ocean,  and  its 
branches,  contain  from  2200  to  2800  grains  of  saline  matter 
in  the  gallon;  those  of  the  Dead  Sea  in  some  places  11,000; 
in  others,  as  much  as  21,000  grains,  or  one-fourth  part  of 
their  whole  weight.  Those  of  a small  lake  east  of  the 
steppes  of  the  Wolga,  contain  as  much  as  three-fifths  of  their 
weight  of  saline  matter. 

Common  salt  is  the  most  abundant  kind  of  saline  matter 
which  occurs  in  sea  water ; but  it  contains  also  the  chlorides 
of  calcium  and  magnesium,*  and  some  other  salts,  in  consi- 
derable proportion.  One  of  the  most  recent  examinations 
of  sea  water  has  been  made  by  Riegel.  His  sample,  taken 
off  the  coast  of  Havre,  contained,  in  1000  parts  by  weight 
oli  parts  of  solid  matter  (2250  grains  in  the  gallon),  con- 
sisting of — 


Chloride  of  sodium  (common  salt),  . . . 24.632 

Chloride  of  potassium,  . . • • • 0.307 

Chloride  of  calcium,  • . . . . 0.439 

Chloride  of  magnesium,  .....  2.564 

Bromide  of  magnesium,  .....  0.147 

Sulphate  of  lime  (gypsum),  • • • • 1.097 

Sulphate  of  magnesia  t (Epsom  salts),  . . • 2.146 

Carbonate  of  lime  (chalk),  . • . • 0.176 

Caibonate  of  magnesia,  .....  0.07S 


81536 

The  reader  will  observe  that,  next  to  common  salt,  the 
compounds  of  magnesia  are  most  abundant  in  sea  water. 
The  same  is  the  case  with  the  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea  and 


* Chlorine  is  a greenish-yellow  gas,  which  combines  with  metals  and  forms  chlo- 
rides ; bromine , a dark  red  liquid,  forms  bromides  ; iodine , a lead-grey  solid,  form* 
iodides. 

t Sulphuric  acid,  or  oil  of  vitriol,  unites  with  lime,  magnesia,  soda,  &c.,  and  fr*«a 
wlphates. 


COMPOSITION  (JF  SEA  WATER. 


33 


other  very  salt  lakes,  and  to  this  they  chiefly  owe  their  acrid 
bitter  taste. 

Besides  the  substances  above  named,  traces  of  phosphate 
of  lime,  of  silica,  of  the  oxides  of  iron  and  manganese,  of 
iodine,  of  fluorine,  and  even  of  lead,  copper,  silver,  and  arse- 
nic, have  been  detected  in  sea  water.  Indeed,  we  know  that, 
being  the  common  reservoir  into  which  all  soluble  substances 
are  washed  down  by  the  rains  and  rivers,  we  ought  to  find 
in  the  sea  traces  of  all  the  soluble  substances  which  are  ca- 
pable of  existing  together  in  the  same  solution. 

Even  the  spring  and  river  waters  employed  for  domestic 
purposes  often  contain  a considerable  variety  of  substances. 
Thus  the  water  of  the  Thames,  taken  at  Kew  by  the  Grand 
Junction  Water  Company,  and  that  supplied  to  London  by 
the  Kent  Water  Company,  contain,  respectively,  in  an  impe- 
rial gallon — 


Thames 

Kent 

water. 

Water  Company 

Carbonate  of  lime  (chalk),  . • 

10.90 

grs. 

7.02  grs. 

Sulphate  of  lime  (gypsum),  . 

8.26 

„ 

11.03  „ 

Nitrate  of  lime,  .... 

. trace 

„ 

0.07  „ 

Carbonate  of  magnesia, 

. 1.17 

„ 

3.42  „ 

Chloride  of  sodium  (common  salt), 

. 1.40 

n 

3.50  „ 

Sulphate  of  soda,  . . , 

. 0.18 

„ 

— „ 

Chloride  of  potassium  . 

— 

ii 

0.44  „ 

Sulphate  of  potash  . 

0.61 

ii 

0.70  „ 

Silica  * 

. ^ 0.44 

„ 

0.76  „ 

Iron,  alumina,  and  phosphates, 

0.67 

« 

trace  „ 

Organic  matter,  with  a trace  of  ammonia 

3.07 

2.61  „ 

21.70 

29.55  „ 

Lime,  in  combination  with  carbonic  acid  (carbonate), 
and  with  sulphuric  acid  (sulphate),  is  the  most  abundant 
substance  in  these  two  waters.  Indeed,  it  very  often  exists 
in  large  quantity,  especially  in  spring  waters;  and  it  is 
chiefly  to  the  lime  and  magnesia  they  contain,  that  what  are 
called  hard  waters  owe  their  property  of  curdling  with  soap, 


34 


THE  WATER.  WE  DRINK. 


Pure  waters  are  always  soft ; and  when  a water  is  tolerablj 
soft,  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  does  not  contain  any  large 
proportion  of  lime,  or  magnesia. 

Waters  which  contain  much  lime  are  often  bright  and 
sparkling  to  the  eye,  and  agreeably  sweet  to  the  taste. 
They  generally  become  somewhat  milky  when  boiled,  and 
leave  a sediment,  which  incrusts  the  inside  of  kettles  or 
boilers.  When  strongly  impregnated  with  lime,  they  will 
even  deposit  a calcareous  coating  along  their  channels 
as  they  flow  in  the  open  air,  or  will  incrust,  or  petrify,  as  it 
is  called,  any  solid  substances  which  are  immersed  in  them. 
These  circumstances  are  owing  to  the  peculiar  way  in  which 
the  lime  is  held  in  solution. 

We  have  already  seen  that,  if  a current  of  carbonic  acid 
be  made  to  pass  through  lime-water  (as  in  fig.  5),  the  trans- 
parent liquid  will  become  at  first  milky,  from  the  formation 
of  carbonate  of  lime,  which  remains  suspended  in  the  form 
of  a very  fine  powder  ; but  if  the  current  of  carbonic  acid  be 
continued,  the  milkiness  will  gradually  disappear,  the  car- 
bonate of  lime  will  be  re-dissolved,  and  the  liquid  will  again 
become  clear.  The  carbonate  of  lime  is  held  in  solution  by 
an  excess  of  carbonic  acid. 

If,  now,  the  clear  solution  be  poured  from  one  vessel  t(? 
another  for  a number  of  times,  it  will  gradually  give  off  this 
excess  of  carbonic  acid  into  the  air,  and  become  milky  again. 
This  is  what  happens  when  calcareous  springs  incrust  the 
sides  of  their  channels,  as  in  Auvergne,  or  at  Matlock  and 
Knaresborough  in  our  own  country.  Or  if  a coin  or  other  solid 
substance  be  introduced  into  the  solution,  bubbles  of  car- 
bonic acid  gas  will  gradually  be  given  off,  and  the  substance 
will  become  incrusted  with  lime — the  carbonate  of  lime 
which  falls.  This  is  exactly  what  takes  place  in  a petrify- 
fng  well.  Or  if  the  solution  be  heated  over  the  fire,  the  ex- 


HOW  SPRINGS  PETRIFY. 


3£ 

cess  of  carbonic  acid  is  driven  off,  the  solution  becomes 
milky  as  before,  and  the  whole  of  the  lime  falls  in  the  form 
of  carbonate,  leaving  the  water  nearly  pure.  The  incrusta- 
tion in  our  kettles  and  boilers  is  chiefly  produced  in  this 
latter  way.  Hard  waters,  therefore,  are  generally  made 
much  softer  and  purer  by  boiling.  Should  much  of  the  lime, 
however — as  in  the  water  supplied  by  the  Kent  Water  Com 
paqy,  above  noticed — be  in  the  state  of  gypsum,  mere  boil- 
ing will  not  alone  soften  it ; but  if  a little  soda  be  added  to 
it  during  the  boiling,  this  will  separate  the  lime  of  the  gyp- 
sum also. 

As  this  solvent  power  of  water  enables  it  to  take  up 
many  substances  from  the  rocks  and  soils  through  which  it 
passes,  it  often  happens^  that,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  dwell- 
ings and  farmyards,  and  especially  in  towns,  the  water  of 
wells  becomes  very  impure,  and  even  unwholesome  to  drink. 
The  rains  that  fall  upon  the  filth  that  accumulates  in  towns 
wash  out  the  soluble  substances  it  contains,  carry  them  into 
the  soil,  and  through  this,  by  degrees,  to  the  wells  by  which 
the  wants  of  the  inhabitants  are  supplied.  This  has  often 
been  productive  of  serious  and  fatal  disease.  It  shows, 
therefore,  the  propriety  of  preventing,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  accumulation  of  refuse,  and,  where  such  accumulation  is 
unavoidable,  of  placing  it  at  the  greatest  distance  from  wells 
which  yield  water  for  daily  use.  And,  especially,  it  shows 
the  necessity  of  bringing  water  from  a distance  for  the  supply 
of  large  cities. 

The  neighbourhood  of  grave-yards  is  equally  fitted,  with 
the  accumulation  of  town  refuse,  to  adulterate  water  with 
undesirable  admixtures.  The  water  of  a well  which  is  close 
to  the  old  churchyard  on  the  top  of  Highgate  Hill,  has  lately 
been  examined  by  Mr.  Noad,  and  found  to  contain  as  much 
as  100  grains  of  solid  matter  to  the  gallon,  consisting  of— 


36 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK, 


Nitrate  of  lime,  . . . 

40.12  grain* 

Nitrate  of  magnesia, 

17.06 

Sulphate  of  potash, 

17.04 

»» 

Sulphate  of  soda  (Glauber  salts), 

9.52 

»» 

Chloride  of  sodium  (common  salt),  . 

9.63 

„ 

Chloride  of  calcium. 

5.91 

»» 

Silica,  .... 

0.90 

100.18  grains. 

This  large  amount  of  nitrates  * is  traced  to  the  neighbouring 
grave-yard,  as  such  compounds  are  generally  produced  where 
animal  matters  decay  in  porous  soils.  While  the  buried 
bodies  were  more  recent,  animal  matters  of  a more  disagree- 
able kind  would  probably  have  been  found  in  the  well,  as  I 
have  myself  found  them  in  the  water  of  wells  situated  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  farmyards. 

Well-waters  sometimes  contain  vegetable  substances  also 
of  a peculiar  kind,  which  render  them  unwholesome,  even 
over  large  tracts  of  country.  In  sandy  districts  the  decay- 
ing vegetable  matters  of  the  surface-soil  are  observed  to 
sink  down  and  form  an  ochrey  pan , or  thin  yellow  layer  in 
the  subsoil,  which  is  impervious  to  water,  and  through  which, 
therefore,  the  rains  cannot  pass.  Being  arrested  by  this 
pan,  the  rain  water,  while  it  rests  upon  it,  dissolves  a certain 
portion  of  the  vegetable  matter ; and  when  collected  into 
wells,  is  often  dark  coloured,  marshy  in  taste  and  smell,  and 
unwholesome  to  drink.  When  boiled,  the  organic  matter 
coagulates,  and  when  the  water  cools  separates  in  flocks, 
leaving  the  water  wholesome*,  and  nearly  free  from  taste  or 
smell.  The  same  purification  takes  place  when  the  water  is 
filtered  through  charcoal,  or  when  chips  of  oak  wood  are  put 
into  it.  These  properties  of  being  coagulated  by  boiling, 
and  by  the  tannin  of  oak  wood,  show  that  the  organic  matter 

* The  nitrates  consist  of  nitric  acid  (aquafortis)  combined  with  lime,  magnesia 
fee.  Saltpetre  is  nitrate  of  potash , consisting  of  nitric  acid  combined  with  potasU 
and  ao  on. 


THE  WATERS  OF  MARAH. 


37 


contained  in  the  water  is  of  an  albuminous  character,  or  re- 
sembles white  of  egg.  As  it  coagulates,  it  not  only  falls 
itself,  but  it  carries  other  impurities  along  with  it,  and  thus 
purifies  the  water — in  the  same  way  as  the  white  of  egg 
clarifies  wines  and  other  liquors  to  which  it  is  added. 

Such  is  the  character  of  the  waters  in  common  use  in  the 
Landes  of  the  Gironde  around  Bordeaux,*  and  in  many 
other  sandy  districts.  The  waters  of  rivers,  and  of  marshy 
and  swampy  places,  often  contain  a similar  coagulable  sub- 
stance. Hence  the  waters  of  the  Seine  at  Paris  are  clari- 
fied by  introducing  a morsel  of  alum,  and  the  river  and 
marshy  waters  of  India  by  the  use  of  the  nuts  of  the  Strych - 
nos  'potatorum , of  which  travellers  often  carry  a supply. 
One  or  two  of  these  nuts,  rubbed  to  powder  on  the  side  of 
the  earthen  vessel  into  which  the  water  is  to  be  poured,  soon 
causes  the  impurities  to  subside.  In  Egypt,  the  muddy 
water  of  the  Nile  is  clarified  by  rubbing  bitter  almonds  on 
the  sides  of  the  water-vessel  in  the  same  way. 

In  all  these  instances  the  principle  of  the  clarification  is 
the  same.  The  albuminous  matter  is  coagulated  by  what  is 
added  to  the  water,  and  in  coagulating  it  embraces  the  other 
impurities  of  the  water,  and  carries  them  down  along  with  it. 

These  cases,  and  especially  that  of  the  sandy  Landes  of 
Bordeaux,  and  elsewhere,  throw  an  interesting  light  upon 
the  history  of  the  waters  of  Marah,  as  given  in  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  Exodus. 

“ So  Moses  brought  Israel  from  the  Red  Sea ; and 
they  went  out  into  the  wilderness  of  Shur ; and  they  went 
three  days  in  the  wilderness  and  found  no  water.  And 
when  they  came  to  Marah,  they  could  not  drink  of  the 
waters  of  Marah,  for  they  were  bitter : therefore  the  name 
of  it  was  called  Marah.  And  the  people  murmured  against 
Moses,  saying,  What  shall  we  drink  ? And  he  cried  unto 


♦ Faueb^  Annales  de  Chem.  et  de  Phys .,  Scptembre,  1853,  p.  84. 


38 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK. 


the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  showed  him  a tree,  which  when  he 
had  cast  into  the  waters,  the  waters  were  made  sweet.”* 

As  in  our  European  sandy  dunes,  the  waters  of  the  sand^ 
wilderness  may  contain  an  albumen-like  substance  which  an 
astringent  plant  will  coagulate.  The  discovery  of  such  a 
plant  among  the  natural  vegetation  of  the  desert  would  give, 
therefore,  the  means  of  purifying  and  rendering  it  whole- 
some, as  cuttings  of  the  oak  tree  render  salubrious  the  waters 
of  the  Landes  of  La  Gironde. 

5°.  Water,  also,  absorbs  or  dissolves  different  kinds  of 
air  or  gas  in  different  proportions ; and  upon  this  property 
depend  some  things  which  are  familiar  to  us  in  common  life, 
and  which,  therefore,  it  may  be  proper  to  mention.  Thus — 
First . It  absorbs  its  own  bulk  of  carbonic  acid  gas — and 
it  does  so  under  every  pressure. 

The  meaning  of  this  is  explained  as  follows.  We  take  a 
strong,  tall,  glass  jar  (fig.  9),  graduated  into  five  equal 
divisions,  and  provided  with  an  air-tight  piston,  p. 
Into  this -jar  we  pour  pure  water  up  to  the  first 
division  (1),  fill  up  the  jar  quickly  with  carbonic 
acid,  fit  in  the  piston  and  shake  the  jar.  The 
piston  will  then  gradually  sink  one  division  (to  4) 
— that  is,  the  water  will  dissolve  or  absorb  its  own 
volume  of  the  gas,  under  the  ordinary  pressure  of 
the  atmosphere.  But  if,  the  arrangement  being 
as  before,  we  apply  at  once  to  the  piston  rod  f a 
pressure  equal  to  another  atmosphere — 151b.  to 
the  square  inch — the  piston  will  immediately  sink 
two  divisions  (to  3),  or  the  gas  will  be  compressed  to  half 
its  bulk.  If  the  whole  be  now  shaken,  the  piston  will,  as  at 
first,  gradually  sink  one  division  (to  2).  In  other  words,  the 
water  will  again  absorb  its  own  bulk  of  the  gas  under  this 
increased  pressure. 


* Exodus,  XV.  28. 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRESSURE. 


39 


Or,  if  we  apply  at  once  a pressure  of  three  atmospheres— 
45  lb.,  making,  with  the  ordinary  atmosphere,  four  in  all,  or 
6Q  lb.  to  the  inch,  which  press  upon  it — the  piston  will  sink 
at  once  three  divisions  (to  2),  reducing  the  gas  to  one-fourth 
of  its  bulk.  If,  now,  the  water  be  agitated,  the  piston  will 
again  gradually  sink  one  division,  and  the  whole  gas  will 
disappear — that  is,  the  water  will  again  absorb  its  own  bulk 
of  the  gas  at  this  new  pressure. 

If,  now,  the  applied  pressure  of  45  lb.  be  removed,  the 
gas  will  gradually  rise  out  of  the  water  and  force  up  the 
piston,  till  it  finally  rests,  as  in  the  first  experiment,  at  the 
division  No.  4,  the  water  retaining  only  its  own  bulk  of  the 
gas  at  the  ordinary  pressure  of  one  atmosphere. 

It  is  because  of  this  interesting  property  that,  with  the 
aid  of  machinery,  water  can  be  overcharged  with  carbonic 
acid  in  the  soda-water  manufactories,  and  that  the  gas  escapes 
with  so  much  violence  from  a soda-water  bottle  when  the 
cork  is  withdrawn. 

But  the  result  is  the  same  whether  the  carbonic  acid  be 
forced  into  the  water  ready  prepared — as  is  done  by  the 
soda-water  maker — or  is  formed  in  the  bottle  itself  from 
substances  contained  in  the  water.  The  latter  is  the  case  in 
all  fermenting  liquors  contained  in  bottles.  The  carbonic 
acid  is  gradually  produced  in  the  interior  of  the  bottle  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  chemical  change  we  call  fermentation. 
As  fast  as  it  is  produced  the  water  dissolves  it,  the  pressure 
of  the  gas  upon  the  inner  surface  of  the  bottle  increasing  at 
the  same  time.  If  the  bottle  be  of  sufficient  strength,  the 
only  consequence  is,  that  the  cork  will  be  forced  out  if  not 
firmly  tied  down ; or  that,  when  the  cork  is  withdrawn,  the 
gas  will  drive  out  the  liquor  in  its  own  eagerness  to  escape, 
If  the  bottle  be  too  weak,  it  will  be  burst  by  the  pressure,  as 
often  happens  with  soda-water  ; and,  sometimes,  to  thousands 
of  bottles  at  a time  in  champagne  cellars.  In  other  wines, 


40 


THE  WATER  WE  DRINK. 


and  in  beer  and  porter,  especially  when  well  hopped,  carbonic 
acid  is  produced  in  smaller  quantity.  But  it  is  to  the  pre- 
sence of  this  gas,  dissolved  in  this  way,  that  the  latter 
liquors  owe  their  briskness  when  poured  from  the  bottle,  and 
to  the  natural  escape  of  the  gas  that  they  become  flat,  stale 
or  dead,  as  we  call  it,  when  they  are  exposed  to  the  air. 

Water  absorbs  also  the  gases,  oxygen  and  nitrogen — of 
which  the  atmosphere  chiefly  consists — but  not  in  the  precis 
proportions  in  which  they  exist  in  the  air.  W e have  seen  tha 
the  air  we  breathe  contains  about  21  per  cent,  of  oxygen,  but 
in  the  air  which  we  can  extract  from  water  it  exists  to  the 
amount  of  31  to  33  per  cent.  This,  among  other  purposes,  is 
an  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  fishes,  and  generally  of  those 
marine  animals  which  extract  the  oxygen  they  require  for 
the  support  of  life,  from  the  water  in  which  they  live.  They 
can  obtain  the  necessary  supply  of  this  gas  more  easily  from 
air  which  contains  one-third  than  from  one  which  contains 
only  one-fifth  of  this  vital  principle.  If  proof  of  this  were 
required,  it  is  found  in  the  observation  that,  where  circum- 
stances have  been  such  as  to  deprive  river  water  of  a portion 
of  its  oxygen,  the  fish  have  been  found  dead  in  great  numbers. 

It  has  recently  been  discovered  by  Hayes,  that  the  water 
of  the  sea  contains  more  oxygen  near  its  surface  than  at  a 
depth  of  one  or  two  hundred  feet.  This  is  probably  con- 
nected with  the  comparative  scarcity  of  animal  life  at  great 
depths. 

This  tendency  of  water  to  dissolve  more  oxygen,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  nitrogen,  than  exists  in  common  air,  explains 
another  curious  circumstance  which  long  puzzled  philoso- 
phers as  well  as  ordinary  people.  If  a bottle  be  filled  quite 
full  with  snow,  be  well  corked,  and  then  put  into  a warm 
room,  the  snow  will  melt,  and  the  bottle  will  be  filled,  per- 
haps, one-third  with  water  and  two-thirds  with  air.  If  this 
air  be  examined,  it  will  be  found  to  contain  less  oxygen  than 
atmospheric  air — sometimes  not  more  than  12  or  14  per 


AIR  CONTAINED  IN  SNOW. 


41 


cent. ; while  atmospheric  air,  as  we  have  seen,  contains  21 
per  cent.  Hence  it  was  long  supposed  that  the  air,  always 
present  in  snow,  naturally  contained  this  small  proportion 
of  oxygen,  and  that  snow,  therefore,  possessed  some  peculiar 
property  of  absorbing  the  gases  of  the  atmosphere  in  this 
new  proportion.  But  the  explanation  is,  that  the  snow,  in 
melting  into  water,  takes  up  a larger  proportionate  quantity 
of  the  oxygen  than  it  does  of  the  nitrogen  of  the  air  which 
was  contained  in  its  pores,  and  consequently  leaves  a smaller 
proportion  behind. 

Thus  the  water  we  drink,  like  the  air  we  breathe,  is  a 
substance  of  much  chemical  interest.  Both  are  indispensa- 
ble to  the  existence  of  life ; both  are  mixed  in  nature  with 
many  substances  not  essential  to  their  composition ; and 
both,  in  their  most  important  properties,  exhibit  many  direct 
relations  to  the  growth  of  plants  and  to  the  wants  and  com- 
forts of  living  animals. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


Iftuera.  origin  rtf  soils ; natural  differences  In  their  quality ; how  it  arises. — Stratified 
and  unstratified  rocks. — Soils  of  the  stratified  rocks. — Improved  soils  where  differ- 
ent rocks  intermix.— .Soils  of  the  granites,  traps,  and  lavas. — Agency  of  rains,  winds, 
and  vegetable  accumulations  in  producing  diversities  of  soil.— General  chemical 
composition  of  soils. — Illustrations  afforded  by  the  Atlantic  border  of  the  United 
States. — Some  plants  affect  sandy  soils,  others  clay  soils,  and  yet  do  not  always 
flourish  upon  them. — Cause  of  this. — Minute  chemical  composition  of  the  soil ; its 
mineral  and  organic  parts. — Chemical  difference  between  granite  and  trap  soils. — 
Dependence  of  fertility  on  chemical  composition. — Influence  of  rain  and  moisture, 
and  of  the  degree  of  warmth,  on  comparative  fertility. — District  floras  and  crops. — 
Influence  of  man  in  modifying  geological,  chemical,  and  climatic  tendencies. — Pro- 
gress of  exhausting  culture  in  new  regions ; example  of  North  America. — Reclaim- 
ing influences  of  human  exertion  ; example  of  Great  Britain. 


In  immediate  importance  to  man,  the  soil  he  cultivates  is 
scarcely  inferior  to  the  air  he  breathes,  or  the  water  he 
drinks.  Upon  the  plants  which  the  soil  produces  he  and  all 
other  animals  depend  for  their  daily  sustenance.  Hence, 
where  the  soil  is  fruitful,  animal  life  is  abundant ; where  it 
yields  only  sparingly,  animals  are  few,  and  human  inhabit- 
ants, as  a general  rule,  but  sparsely  scattered. 

The  soil  is  formed,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  rocks  of 
which  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  composed.  By  the  action 
of  air  and  water  these  rocks  crumble,  and  their  surface  be- 


DIFFERENT  QUALITIES  OF  SOILS.  43 

comes  covered  with  loose  materials.  The  seeds  of  plants 
are  sprinkled  over  them  by  the  winds  ; they  germinate  and 
grow  up  ; animals  come  to  feed  upon  them  ; both  plants  and 
animals  die ; and  thus  a mixture  of  decayed  rock,  with  the 
remains  of  animals  and  plants,  gradually  overspreads  the 
entire  surface  of  the  dry  land.  It  is  to  this  mixture  that  we 
apply  the  name  of  soil. 

But  the  soil  thus  naturally  formed  differs  in  quality, 
from  various  causes.  The  rocks  which  crumble  differ  in 
chemical  composition ; their  crumbled  fragments  are  spread 
over  the  surface,  and  sorted  by  wind  and  water  in  different 
ways ; and  the  kind  and  quantity  of  the  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble matters  they  are  mixed  with  differ  much.  Through  the 
agency  of  these  and  similar  causes  of  diversity,  many  varie- 
ties of  soil  are  produced,  which  are  not  only  unlike  to  each 
other  in  their  sensible  properties,  but  very  different  also  in 
their  agricultural  value. 

If  we  examine  with  a little  attention  the  numerous  rocks 
we  meet  with  in  travelling  over  a country  like  our  own,  an 
important  difference  in  their  physical  structure  will  early 
strike  us.  Some  are  seen  to  form  hills,  cliffs,  or  mountains, 
which  consist  each  of  a single  huge  lump  or  mass,  cracked 
here  and  there,  perhaps  irregularly,  but  exhibiting  no  con- 
tinuous division  into  distinct  parts  or  portions.  Others 
again  are  as  clearly  divided  into  layers  or  beds,  spread  over 
each  other  like  vast  flagstones  of  different  thicknesses,  some- 
times extending  horizontally  for  distances  of  many  miles. 
The  following  section  (fig.  10)  exhibits  these  differences  of 
physical  appearance. 


Fig.  10. 


3 


44 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


The  rocks  marked  A and  B are  the  undivided  masses^ 
those  marked  C D are  the  rocks  which  lie  in  beds.  The 
numbers  12  3 indicate  the  groups  into  which  the  beds,  when 
numerous  on  any  spot,  can  usually  be  subdivided. 

The  most  ignorant  of  science  can  observe  differences  of 
this  kind — it  requires  only  the  use  of  the  eyes;  and  yet 
this  difference  of  structure  is  so  important,  that  upon  it  is 
founded  the  division  of  all  rocks  into  stratified  and  unstrat- 
ified. Those  which  are  composed  of  beds  or  strata  are  called 
stratified,  those  in  which  no  such  partings  are  visible  are 
called  unstratified. 

The  stratified  rocks  cover  by  far  the  largest  portion  of 
the  earth’s  surface.  They  are  not  always  quite  horizontal, 
as  represented  in  the  above  section  ; they  are  more  often  in- 
clined, so  as  to  dip  into  the  earth  at  a greater  or  less  angle. 
Sometimes  they  are  even  piled  against  each  other  like  flag- 
stones placed  on  edge.  The  following  section  (fig.  11)  ex- 


Fig.  11. 


hibits  these  three  several  modes  in  which  the  stratified  rocks 
occur,  A showing  them  on  edge,  B dipping  at  a considerable 
angle,  and  C D E perfectly  horizontal.  This  disposition  of 
the  rocks,  it  will  be  seen,  must  materially  affect  the  quality 
of  the  soil,  and  especially  the  extent  of  surface  over  which 
any  particular  soil  is  to  be  found.  If  the  quality  of  the  soil 
depend  in  any  degree  upon  the  quality  of  the  rock  the 
changes  of  soil  must  be  very  frequent  where  the  surface  is 
formed  of  the  edges  only  of  different  rocks,  as  is  seen  at  A 
and  B. 

These  stratified  rocks  consist  essentially  of  one  or  more 
of  three  different  kinds  of  matter  only : limestones,  sand- 


MIXED  SOILS. 


45 


stones,  and  clays,  more  or  less  hard,  form  the  substance  of 
them  all.  When  a limestone  crumbles,  it  forms  a calcareous 
soil ; a sandstone,  a sandy  soil ; and  a hard  clay  rock,  a 
more  or  less  tenacious  clay  soil.  Hence,  these  are  the  three 
leading  qualities  of  soil  known  and  spoken  of  among  practi- 
cal men. 

But  many  rocks  do  not  consist  altogether  either  of  lime- 
stone, of  sandstone,  or  of  clay,  but  of  a mixture  of  each  in 
varied  proportions.  The  crumbling  of  such  rocks,  therefore, 
gives  rise  to  soils  of  various  intermediate  qualities,  neither 
calcareous,  properly  speaking,  nor  sandy  nor  clayey ; and 
these  form,  for  the  most  part,  those  more  open,  fertile,  and 
valuable  loams,  which  the  farmers  of  every  country  prefer 
to  cultivate. 

Similar  mixed  soils  are  also  naturally  produced  where 
the  edges  of  different  rocks  overlap  each  other,  and  mingle 
their  mutual  debris.  Thus,  when  the  fragments  of  a rock 
rich  in  lime  naturally  intermix  with  one  poor  in  this  ingre- 
dient, the  soil  produced  is  of  a much  better  and  more  useful 
quality  than  when  the  surface  is  formed  by  the  fragments 
of  one  of  the  rocks  only.  This  is  illustrated  in  the  south  of 
England  in  many  places,  where  the  materials  of  the  plastic 
clay,  the  chalk,  and  the  green-sand,  meet  and  intermingle, 
as  seen  in  the  following  section,  (fig.  12). 


Fig.  12. 

Wheat  and  Barley  soils.  Stiff  clay, 

hop  land.  Thin  downs.  Ware  malt.  Wheat  soils. 


This  woodcut  represents  the  plastic  clay  as  coming  in 
contact  with  the  chalk  which  lies  below  it,  and  the  chalk 
again  coming  in  contact  with  the  upper  green-sand,  upon 


46 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


which  it  rests.  At  the  first  point  of  contact  the  heavy  diffi 
cult  clays  change  into  open  barley  soils,  producing  a grain 
which,  for  quality  and  malting  properties,  is  not  excelled  by 
any  in  the  kingdom.  And,  again,  at  the 'contact  of  the  chalk 
and  upper  green-sand,  the  mixed  soil  is  equally  celebrated 
for  its  crops  of  wheat,  and  for  the  fertility  of  its  hop- 
gardens. 

The  unstratified  rocks,  again,  consist  chiefly  of  three 
varieties — the  granites,  the  traps,  and  the  lavas.  These 
rocks  also  crumble  more  or  less  rapidly,  and  produce  soils 
which,  in  granitic  countries,  are  generally  poor,  over  trap- 
rocks  generally  rich,  and  upon  decayed  lavas,  often  remark- 
able for  fertility.  In  the  granite  districts  of  Devonshire 
and  Scotland  we  see  the  poor  soils  which  this  rock  produces, 
and  in  the  low  country  of  Scotland,  and  in  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, the  rich  soils  of  the  trap.  Italy  and  Sicily,  and  every 
other  volcanic  country  in  the  Old  World,  exhibit  in  their 
soils  the  fertilizing  influence  of  the  modern  lavas. 

In  new  countries  the  same  phenomena  reappear,  similar 
rocks  everywhere  producing  similar  soils.  Thus,  at  the  base  of 
the  famous  gold-bearing  mountains  of  Victoria,  stretches  “ a 
fertile  and  beautiful  country — the  garden  of  Australia  Felix 
— the  rich  soil  of  which  is  the  product  of  decomposed  lava.”* 
And  for  ages,  probably,  after  the  gold  mines  have  been  for- 
gotten, these  rich  park-like  plains  will  continue  to  yield 
luxuriant  harvests  of  golden  grain  to  the  industrious  cul- 
tivator. 

Dut  the  earth’s  surface  is  varied  with  hill  and  valley, 
mountain  and  plain,  so  that  the  rains  which  fall  are  able  to 
flow  along  the  slopes,  and  to  gather  themselves  into  rivulets, 
streams,  and  rivers.  In  so  flowing  they  wash  out  the  finer 
and  lighter  particles  from  among  the  fragments  of  the 
crumbled  rocks,  and  carry  them  into  the  valleys  and  plains 


Quarterly  Journal  cf  the  Geological  Society , ix.  75. 


SOILS  MODIFIED  BY  PHYSICAL  CAUSES.  47 

The  constant  repetition  of  this  washing  gradual1  y sorts  the 
fragments  of  each  rock,  spreading  the  finer  portions  on  the 
lower  ground  and  along  the  courses  of  rivers,  and  leaving 
on  the  hills  and  slopes  the  coarser  and  less  easily  transported 
materials. 

Hence  from  the  same  rock  different  varieties  of  soil  arise. 
Coarse  sands  and  gravels  may  overspread  the  higher  ground, 
while  fine  sand,  clays,  or  loams,  cover  the  plains  or  valleys 
beneath.  From  a mixed  stratified  rock  the  clay  or  lime  may 
be  washed  out  and  spread  over  the  low  plains,  leaving  only 
a poor  and  barren  sand  on  the  slopes  above ; or  from  a de- 
caying granite  the  felspar-clay  may  be  washed  down,  leaving 
the  hungry  and  unfertile  quartz  to  cover  the  naked  rock. 

In  some  countries,  winds  play  a similar  part.  They  lick 
up  the  fine  dust  as  they  sweep  over  a country,  and  carry  it 
often  far  away  to  other  regions ; or,  rushing  from  the  sea, 
they  bear  inland  the  sands  of  the  shore,  and  cover  with  sandy 
downs  or  barren  deserts  soils  which  are  naturally  rich  and 
productive  in  vegetable  food. 

Thus  physical  causes  modify  the  quality  of  the  soils 
which  different  rocks  naturally  tend  to  produce.  They  as- 
sort or  re-arrange  the  materials  of  which  a rock  consists, 
and  they  often  bear  to  great  distances,  and  spread  over  other 
rocks,  the  finer  particles  into  which  it  crumbles.  The  so-called 
alluvial  soils,  which  border  so  many  of  our  rivers,  are  pro- 
duced by  such  a sorting,  produced  through  the  agency  of  water. 
The  sandy  downs  of  European  countries,  and  many  of  the 
desert  regions  of  Africa  and  Asia,  owe  their  existence  to 
the  sorting  agency  of  the  wind. 

Vegetation  also  has  its  influence.  When  a tree  or 
humbler  plant  dies  on  a dry  surface,  it  gradually  decays, 
and  disappears  into  the  air.  Let  it  be  immersed  in  stagnant 
water,  and  it  blackens,  falls  to  pieces,  and  crumbles,  per- 
haps, but  in  substance  long  remains  where  it  fell.  Let 


48 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULL  ATE. 


others  grow  up,  die,  and  fall  on  the  same  moist  spot,  and 
the  black  vegetable  matter  will  accumulate  from  year  to 
year.  In  this  way,  where  shallow  water  rests  on  an  imper- 
vious bottom,  peat-bogs  and  other  collections  of  vegetable 
matter  gradually  cover  the  surface.  They  bury  the  frag- 
ments of  the  crumbled  rocks  sometimes  under  a great  depth 
of  vegetable  matter,  and  form  those  unmanageable  peaty 
soils  which  overspread  so  large  a portion  of  Scotland,  and 
especially  of  the  north  and  west  of  Ireland. 

Such  are  the  principal  natural  causes  of  diversity  in 
soils.  In  the  chemical  composition  of  the  rocks  we  recognise 
the  fundamental  or  primary  cause  ; in  the  physical  distribu- 
tion of  rains  and  winds,  and  in  their  mechanical  action,  an 
important  secondary  cause  ; and  in  the  growth  and  accumu- 
lation of  vegetable  matter,  a third  more  special  and  less 
widely  operating  agent  in  the  production  of  such  diversities. 

By  these  agencies  are  formed  the  varieties  of  soil  gen- 
erally described  as  sandy  soils,  clay  soils,  limestone  or  marly 
soils,  and  peaty  soils.  These  terms  all  indicate  important 
chemical  differences,  though  practical  men  have  hitherto  had 
their  attention  too  little  drawn  to  the  influence  which  chemi- 
cal composition  exercises  over  agricultural  value.  The  sandy 
soil  is  distinguished  by  consisting  chiefly  of  quartzose  or 
silicious  sand — another  form  of  flint,  rock-crystal,  or  the  sub- 
stance which  chemists  call  silica ; the  limestone  or  marly 
soil,  by  containing  much  limestone,  chalk,  or  other  variety 
of  what  chemists  distinguish  as  carbonate  of  lime  ; the  clay 
soils,  by  abounding  in  clay,  a compound  substance,  consist- 
ing chiefly,  besides  silica,  of  a substance  to  which  chemists 
give  the  name  of  alumina. 

But  the  economical  value  of  a soil  is  often  naturally  af- 
fected by  physico-geological  considerations,  which  are  alto- 
gether independent  of  the  chemical  composition  of  the  *oek 


PHYSICO-GEOLOGICAL  CAUSES. 


49 


from  which  it  is  formed.  The  mere  physical  character  of 
the  rock,  for  example,  from  which  the  soil  is  formed,  often 
determines  not  only  the  kind  of  husbandry  which  can  bo 
profitably  followed,  but  the  class  of  farmers  by  whom  the 
land  is  to  be  occupied,  and  even  whether  it  can  be  profitably 
cultivated  at  all.  The  chalk  rocks  present  an  illustration 
of  this.  These  are  in  most  countries  very  porous  and  ab 
sorbent.  Wells  sunk  into  them  yield  no  water,  and  super 
ficial  pits,  to  receive  and  retain  the  rain  water,  are  the  main 
resource  of  the  inhabitants.  This,  with  the  thin  soils  and 
short  grass  of  our  chalk  downs,  has  long  determined  the  con- 
version of  the  chalk  wolds  into  extensive  sheep-walks.  But 
in  countries,  by  climate  and  otherwise,  unsuited  to  sheep, 
and  where  the  little  rain  that  falls  is  soon  licked  up  by  the 
heats  of  summer,  this  use  of  the  land  becomes  impossible, 
and  an  artificial  supply  of  water  becomes  indispensable  to 
the  existence  of  permanent  and  extended  cultivation.  To 
obtain  this,  deep  wells  sunk  through  the  chalk  are  the  only 
available  resource,  and  this  at  once  determines  that  the  pos- 
sessors must  be  men  of  large  means,  or  at  least  that  the  land 
must  be  worked  by  a class  of  wealthy  cultivators.  The 
upper  portion  of  the  State  of  Alabama,  in  North  America, 
is  in  this  condition.  Situated  on  the  porous  chalk,  it  is  des- 
titute of  surface  water,  unless  where  the  rivers  pass.  In  a 
hot  climate,  its  herbage  is  burned  up  in  summer,  so  that  it 
is  unsuited  for  a pastoral  husbandry.  It  grows  some  flinty 
wheat,  but  it  is  almost  equally  unsuited  to  be  an  extensive 
producer  of  grain.  Devoted  chiefly  to  the  cotton  culture,  it 
is  held  in  large  properties,  and  hundreds  of  deep  Artesian 
wells  already  riddle  the  country,  and  yield  the  needful  sup- 
plies of  water. 

The  following  section  (fig.  13)  of  the  Atlantic  coast-line 
3f  North  America,  from  the  sea  to  the  mountains,  will  serve 


5C 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


Swamp 

willow. 


Fig.  13. 


Dry  chalk  downs. 
Treeless  prairies. 


Broad-leaved  fore&tt 
General  husbandry 
White  labour. 


Primary  metamorphic 
rocks  and  granite. 


to  illustrate  nearly  all  the  points  I have  brought  under  the 
notice  of  the  reader  in  the  preceding  part  of  this  chapter, 
in  reference  at  least  to  the  stratified  rocks.  This  section 
shows  : — 

1°.  How,  over  large  tracts  of  country,  the  rocks  are 
seen  to  be  at  different  angles  of  inclination ; some,  as  in  the 
high  land  to  the  right,  standing  on  their  edges ; and  some, 
as  the  layers  of  alluvial  soil  on  the  sea-shore,  lying  nearly 
on  a level. 

2°.  How,  over  extended  areas,  the  surface  rock  may  con- 
sist chiefly  of  clay,  as  in  the  post-tertiary  and  alluvial  depo- 
sits near  the  sea ; of  sand,  as  in  the  tertiary  beds  ; of  lime- 
stone, as  in  the  chalk  marls ; and  of  mixed  materials,  as  on 
the  hills,  where  numerous  thin  beds  resting  on  their  edges 
rapidly  succeed  each  other. 

3°.  How  the  character  of  the  soil  changes  distinctly 
with  the  surface  rock — being  rich  and  productive  on  the 
post-tertiaries,  sandy  and  barren  on  the  tertiaries,  dry  and 
chalky  on  the  secondary  marls,  useful  and  loamy  on  the 
slopes  of  the  older  mixed  and  metamorphic  rocks. 

4°.  How  the  natural  vegetation  and  the  artificial  pro* 


* The  word  metamorphic  here  used  means  changed  or  altered— as  clay,  for  os 
ample,  is  changed  when  it  is  baked  into  tiles  or  bricks. 


AGRICULTURAL  GEOLOGY. 


51 


duce  of  the  soil  vary  in  like  manner ; and  how  the  kind  ot 
husbandry,  and  we  might  almost  say  the  social  state,  is  de 
termined  by  the  character  of  the  dead  rocks.  It  is  certain^ 
at  least,  that  the  profitable  employment  of  slave  instead  of 
free  labour  depends  very  much  upon  the  character  of  the 
superficial  rocks,  of  the  soils  they  yield,  and  of  the  crops 
they  can  readily  be  made  to  grow. 

5°.  And  lastly,  how  dismal  peaty  swamps  disguise  the 
natural  character  of  the  surface  in  some  regions ; and  how 
the  want  of  water  in  others  renders  profitable  cultivation 
impossible,  unless,  by  expensive  borings,  it  can  be  brought 
up  from  great  depths. 

The  amount  of  chemical  knowledge  embodied  in  the  ge- 
neral chemical  description  of  soils  already  given,  is  useful 
and  satisfactory  as  explaining  their  general  origin,  and  is 
sufficient  even  to  direct  the  practical  man  in  reference  to 
certain  economical  operations.  Long  experience  and  obser- 
vation, for  example,  have  made  generally  known  to  practical 
men  that  certain  cultivated  plants  and  trees  prefer  to  grow 
best  upon  sandy  soils,  others  on  limestone  soils,  others  on 
clay  soils,  and  others  again  on  soils  of  a mixed  or  loamy 
character.  If  one  of  these  trees  or  plants  is  to  be  grown, 
therefore,  a sandy  or  other  soil  suited  to  it  is  sought  for ; 
or  if  a sandy  or  clay  soil  is  to  be  profitably  planted  or  culti 
vated,  the  tree  is  selected  which  has  been  seen  to  flourish, 
or  the  crop  which  has  yielded  profitable  harvests  on  other 
sands  or  clays  of  a similar  kind. 

But  when  we  come  to  inquire  more  particularly  into  the 
relations  between  plants  and  soils,  this  elementary  chemical 
knowledge  fails  us.  The  same  plants  do  not  flourish  on  all 
sands,  on  all  clays,  or  on  all  marls  equally.  Why  is  this  . 
Or  the  trees  flourish  for  a while,  and  then  die  out ; or  the 
crop  for  a few  years  yields  remunerative  returns,  and  then 
ceases  to  give  a profitable  harvest  How  are  these  change* 


52 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


to  be  explained  ? The  soil  is  as  sandy,  the  clay  as  still 
and  the  marl  as  rich  in  lime  as  ever,  and  yet  the  plants 
which  formerly  rejoiced  in  the  several  soils  now  refuse  to 
grow  in  them ! 

A more  minute  chemical  examination  answers  these  ques- 
tions, and  in  each  case  suggests  a remedy  for  the  evil  com- 
plained of.  This  examination  shows — 

First , That  when  a weighed  portion  of  perfectly  dried 
soil,  of  any  kind  on  which  plants  are  capable  of  growing,  is 
heated  to  redness  in  the  air,  a part  of  it  burns  away,  and  what 
is  left  is  found  to  have  sensibly  diminished  in  weight.  The 
combustible  portion  which  thus  disappears  consists  of  the 
animal  and  vegetable  (or  organic)  matter,  of  which  all  soils 
contain  a sensible  quantity.  In  some  the  proportion  is  very 
small,  as  in  the  sandy  soil  on  which  the  cinnamon  tree  grows 
at  Colombo,  in  Ceylon,  which  contains  only  one  per  cent,  of 
organic  matter.  In  others  it  is  very  large,  as  *n  our  own 
peaty  soils,  many  of  which  lose  upwards  of  three-fourths  of 
their  weight  when  burned  in  the  air. 

Second , That  the  earthy  incombustible  part  of  the  soil — • 
besides  the  silica  of  the  sandy  soils,  the  alumina  of  the  clays, 
and  the  lime  of  the  marly  soils — contains  various  other  sub- 
stances, occasionally  in  large  proportions.  Among  these, 
potash,  soda,  magnesia,  oxide  of  iron,  sulphuric  acid,  and 
phosphoric  acid,*  are  the  most  important. 

In  all  soils  upon  which  plants  grow  well  and  in  a healthy 
manner,  every  one  of  these  substances  exists.  If  they  are 
altogether  absent,  the  plant  refuses  to  grow.  If  they  are 
present  in  too  small  quantity,  the  plant  will  be  stunted  and 
unhealthy.  If  the  same  kind  of  plant  be  grown  for  too  long 
a time  in  the  same  soil,  one  or  more  of  these  substances  will 


* Sulphuric  acid,  so  called  from  its  containing  sulphur,  is  the  name  given  by  chem- 
ists to  oil  of  vitriol;  and  phosphoric  acid  is  the  white  substance  produced  whea 
phosphorus  is  burned  in  the  air. 


WHAT  CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS  SAYS. 


53 


become  scarce,  either  absolutely,  or  in  a form  in  which  the 
plant  can  take  them  up  ; and  hence  the  roots  will  be  unable 
to  obtain  as  much  of  them  as  the  health  and  growth  of  the 
plant  requires.  It  is  plain  enough,  therefore,  why  plant? 
often  refuse  to  grow  even  on  the  kind  of  soils  they  especially 
prefer,  and  why,  having  grown  well  on  them  for  a while 
they  refuse  to  do  so  any  longer.  The  soil  does  not  contair 
all  they  require  for  their  support,  and  in  the  proper  form 
or  having  once  contained  them  all  in  sufficient  proportions, 
it  does  so  no  longer.  And  the  remedy  for  this  special  evil 
is  equally  clear.  Add  to  the  soil  the  mineral  ingredients 
which  are  deficient,  or  introduce  them  In  an  available  form, 
and  the  plant  will  spring  up  with  its  old  luxuriance. 

In  like  manner,  that  part  of  the  soil  which  burns  away — 
the  organic  part — when  minutely  examined,  is  found  to  con- 
sist of  numerous  different  forms  of  matter.  These  are  all 
included,  however,  in  one  or  other  of  two  groups — those 
which  contain  the  element  nitrogen,  described  in  the  first 
chapter,*  and  those  which  contain  none  of  this  element.  All 
soils  in  which  plants  grow  well,  must  contain  and  be  able  to 
yield  to  the  plant  a sufficiency  of  the  substances  belonging 
to  each  of  these  groups,  and  especially  of  those  which  con- 
tain nitrogen.  If  they  do  this  too  sparingly,  the  plant  will 
become  sickly ; if  they  withhold  them  altogether,  the  plant 
will  die. 

It  is  with  the  organic  as  with  the  mineral  constituents 
of  the  soil,  therefore  : they  may  be  present  too  sparingly, 
and  thus  the  sand-loving  plant  may  refuse  to  grow  even  in  a 
sandy  soil,  or  one  which  loves  lime  where  lime  abounds.  It 
may  refuse  to  grow  even  when  all  the  mineral  matters  it  re- 
quires are  abundant  in  the  soil,  because  the  necessary  or- 
ganic food  is  still  wanting.  The  full  remedy,  therefore,  ia 
dbtained  only  when  we  supply  to  the  unproductive  soil  the 


* See  The  Aie  we  breathe. 


54 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


necessary  organic  as  well  as  the  necessary  inorganic  or  min 
eral  matters  of  which  it  may  stand  in  need. 

I may  in  some  measure  illustrate  this  by  referring  to  3 
special  case,  common  in  nature,  and  to  which  I have  already- 
alluded  in  the  present  chapter.  The  granitic  rocks,  I have 
said,  produce  generally  poor,  the  trap  rocks,  on  the  other 
hand,  generally  fertile  soils.  To  what  difference  in  the 
mineral  matter  of  the  rocks  is  this  economical  difference  in 
the  soils  chiefly  to  be  ascribed  ? 

If  a piece  of  each  of  the  two  kinds  of  rock  be  submitted 
to  analysis,  a remarkable  but  almost  constant  difference  is 
discovered  in  their  comparative  composition.  Besides  the 
silica  and  alumina  of  which  I have  already  spoken  as  exist- 
ing in  clays,  the  granites  contain  a copious  supply  of  potash 
and  soda,  with  occasionally  minute  quantities  of  magnesia, 
lime,  and  oxide  of  iron.  The  traps,  on  the  other  hand, 
abound  in  all  these  ingredients  nearly  equally ; and  as  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  the  presence  of  all,  in  sensible  pro- 
portion, is  necessary  to  make  a soil  fertile,  the  reason  of 
ike  natural  difference  between  granite  and  trap  soils  becomes 
at  once  apparent.  The  one  is  defective,  while  the  other 
abounds  in  the  mineral  constituents  of  a fertile  soil.  And 
the  means  for  improving  the  granite  soils  become  equally 
apparent.  Add,  as  a first  step,  the  mineral  substances  in 
which  granite  is  deficient,  and  fertility  may  gradually  ensue. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  in  granite  countries  the  application 
Df  lime,  in  some  of  its  forms,  is  a favourite  practice — one 
discovered  to  be  remunerative  long  before  chemistry  had 
shown  the  reason  why. 

Although,  therefore,  the  first  use  of  the  soil  in  reference 
to  the  general  vegetation  of  the  globe  is  to  afford  to  plants 
a firm  anchorage,  so  to  speak,  for  their  roots — and  although 
the  growth  of  many  useful  plants  seems  at  first  sight  to  be 
dependent  on  the  rude  and  general  question  only,  as  to 


INFLUENCE  OF  PHYSICAL  CONDITIONS. 


55 


whether  the  soil  they  occupy  be  a sand,  a clay,  or  a calcareous 
marl, — yet  a minute  chemical  examination  shows  that  theit 
usefulness  to  plants  is  in  reality  dependent  upon  the  presence 
of  a large  number  of  chemical  substances,  both  of  mineral 
and  of  organic  origin.  If  these  are  present,  any  plants  will 
grow  upon  them  that  are  suited  to  their  mechanical  texture 
and  to  the  climate  of  the  place.  If  they  are  absent,  what- 
ever be  the  texture  of  the  soil,  and  whatever  the  climate, 
the  plant  will  languish  and  die.  And  the  whole  art  of 
manuring  consists  in  adding  to  the  soil  those  things  in  which 
it  is  deficient — at  the  right  time,  in  a proper  chemical  con- 
dition, and  in  the  requisite  proportions.  What  services, 
chemical  and  physiological,  the  several  constituents  of  the 
fertile  soil  really  render  to  the  plant  that  grows  upon  it,  will 
appear  in  the  succeeding  chapter. 

But  suppose  all  the  necessary  chemical  adjustments  to 
be  made — the  composition  of  the  soil,  that  is,  to  be  such  as 
is  usually  attendant  upon  fertility — physical  conditions  and 
agencies  often  intervene  to  falsify  the  predictions  of  chem- 
istry. Thus,  the  fall  of  rain  may  be  too  small  to  keep  the 
land  in  that  condition  of  moisture  which  is  required  for  the 
growth  of  plants.  Hence  the  wide  and  naked  deserts  which 
extend  over  the  rainless  regions  of  the  earth’s  surface. 
Whatever  be  the  chemical  composition  of  the  soil  in  these 
regions,  vegetation  is  impossible,  and  the  labour  of  man,  ex- 
cept he  bring  in  water,  almost  in  vain.  Or  the  surface  of 
a country  may  be  so  flat  that  the  rains  which  descend  upon 
it  can  find  no  outlet.  They  stagnate,  therefore,  and  render 
it  unpropitious  to  the  cultivator,  so  that  fertility  cannot 
show  itself,  whatever  the  soil  may  contain,  unless  an  easy 
escape  for  the  superfluous  water  be  first  provided.  Or  the 
rains  may  fall  unseasonably,  as  they  do  in  Iceland,  where 
they  appear  in  the  autumn,  when  the  barley  should  be  ripen* 


56 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


ing,  in  far  too  copious  showers  to  permit  even  this  hardiest 
of  grain  crops  to  be  cultivated  with  profit  in  the  island. 

So  the  thermal  conditions  of  a region  may  interfere  with 
its  fertility.  Abstract  chemistry  says,  u Let  the  soil  con- 
tain the  necessary  constituents,  and  any  crop  will  grow  upon 
it.”  But  physiology  modifies  this  broad  statement,  by  show- 
mg,  first,  that  whatever  be  the  chemical  composition  of  the 
soil,  it  must  possess  a certain  physical  texture  before  this 
or  that  plant  will  grow  well  upon  it.  That  which  naturally 
affects  a clay  soil  will  not  grow  well  upon  a sand ; so  one 
which  delights  in  a blowing  sand  will  languish  in  a moorish 
peat,  however  rich  in  chemical  ingredients  it  may  be.  And, 
second , that  the  temperature  or  warmth  of  a place  determines 
equally  whether  its  naturally  rich  soils  shall  grow  this  crop 
or  that.  Upon  the  combined  influences,  in  fact,  of  moisture 
and  warmth,  which  make  up  what  we  call  climate,  depend  in 
a great  degree  the  varied  floras  and  cultivated  crops  of  the 
different  regions  of  the  globe.  Thousands  of  plants,  which 
beneath  the  tropics  produce  abundantly,  will  in  the  same 
soil  scarcely  expand  a flower  when  placed  beneath  an  arctic 
sky. 

However  important,  therefore,  the  geological  origin  of  a 
soil  and  its  chemical  composition  may  be,  where  climate  is 
favourable  neither  are  able  to  effect  anything  in  the  way  of 
raising  foou  for  man,  where  a duly  attempered  moisture  and 
warmth  are  wanting. 

But  man  also  exercises  an  influence  on  the  soil,  which  is 
worthy  of  attentive  study.  He  lands  in  a new  country,  and 
fertility  everywhere  surrounds  him.  The  herbage  waves 
thick  and  high,  and  the  massive  trees  raise  their  proud  stems 
loftily  towards  the  sky.  He  clears  a farm  from  the  wilder- 
ness, and  ample  returns  of  corn  pay  him  yearly  for  his  sim- 
ple labours.  He  ploughs,  he  sows,  he  reaps,  and  from  her 
seemingly  exhaustless  bosom  the  earth  gives  back  abundant 


INFLUENCE  OF  MAN. 


57 


harvests.  But  at  length  a change  appears,  creeping  slowly 
over  and  gradually  dimming  the  smiling  landscape.  The 
corn  is  first  less  beautiful,  then  less  abundant,  and  at  last  it 
appears  to  die  altogether  beneath  the  resistless  scourge  of  an 
unknown  insect,  or  a parasitic  fungus.*  He  forsakes,  there 
fore,  his  long  cultivated  farm,  and  hews  out  another  from 
the  native  forest.  But  the  same  early  plenty  is  followed  by 
the  same  vexatious  disasters.  His  neighbours  partake  of 
the  same  experience.  They  advance  like  a devouring  tide 
against  the  verdant  woods.  They  trample  them  beneath 
their  advancing  culture.  The  axe  levels  its  yearly  prey,  and 
generation  after  generation  proceeds  in  the  same  direction 
— a wall  of  green  forests  on  the  horizon  before  them,  a half 
desert  and  naked  region  behind. 

Such  is  the  history  of  colonial  culture  in  our  own  epoch ; 
such  is  the  vegetable  history  of  the  march  of  European  cul- 
tivation over  the  entire  continent  of  America.  From  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic,  the  unrifled  soil  retreated  first  to  the 
Alleghanies  and  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes.  These  are 
now  overpast,  and  the  reckless  plunderer,  axe  in  hand, 
scarcely  retarded  by  the  rich  banks  of  the  Mississippi  and 
its  tributary  waters,  is  hewing  his  way  forward  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Andes.  No  matter 
what  the  geological  origin  of  the  soil  may  be,  or  what  its 
chemical  composition ; no  matter  how  warmth  and  moisture 
may  favour  it,  or  what  the  staple  crop  it  has  patiently  yielded 
from  year  to  year,  the  same  inevitable  fate  overtakes  it. 
The  influence  of  long-continued  human  action  overcomes  the 
tendencies  of  all  natural  causes. 

I need  scarcely  refer,  as  special  examples  of  this  fact,  to 

* In  New  England  and  the  British  provinces  of  North  America  the  wheat  it 
overwhelmed  by  the  Jly;  in  New  Jersey  and  Maryland,  the  wide  peach-orchards  by 
the  borer , and  a mysterious  disease  called  the  yellows ; and  in  Alabama  the  cottoi 
plant  by  the  rust 


58 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


the  tracts  of  abandoned  land  which  are  still  to  be  seen  along 
the  Atlantic  borders  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  It  is 
more  interesting  to  us  to  look  at  those  parts  of  America 
which  lie  farther  towards  the  north,  and  which,  in  modes  of 
culture  and  kinds  of  produce,  more  nearly  resemble  our 
own. 

The  flat  lands  which  skirt  the  lower  St.  Lawrence,  and 
which  near  Montreal  stretch  into  wide  plains,  were  celebrated 
as  the  granary  of  America  in  the  times  of  the  French  do- 
minion. Fertile  in  wheat,  they  yielded  for  many  years  a 
large  surplus  for  exportation ; now  they  grow  less  of  this 
grain  than  is  required  for  the  consumption  of  their  own  popu- 
lation. The  oat  and  the  potato  have  taken  the  place  of 
wheat  as  the  staples  of  Lower  Canadian  culture,  and  as  the 
daily  sustenance  of  those  who  live  on  the  produce  of  their 
own  farms. 

So,  In  New  England,  cultivation  of  wheat  has  gradually 
become  unprofitable.  The  tiller  of  the  worn-out  soils  of  this 
part  of  the  United  States  cannot  compete  with  the  cultivator 
of  the  fresh  land  yearly  won  by  the  axe  and  the  plough  from 
the  western  wilderness,  and  he  is  fain  to  betake  himself  to 
the  raising  of  other  crops.  The  peculiarly  wheat-producing 
zone  is  yearly  shifting  itself  more  completely  towards  the 
west.  This  has  long  been  evident  to  the  careful  observer, 
and  to  the  collector  of  statistical  data.  I brought  it  dis- 
tinctly before  the  public  in  my  work  on  North  America.5* 
And  a striking  proof  of  the  correctness  of  my  views  is 
afforded  by  the  subsequent  returns  of  the  United  States 
census  of  1850.  From  these  it  appears  that,  while  the  pro- 
duce of  wheat  in  the  New  England  States  in  1840  amounted 
to  2,014.000  bushels,  it  was  reduced  in  1850  to  1,078,000 
bushels.  So  rapidly,  even  now,  is  the  influence  of  human 
agency  on  the  natural  tendencies  of  the  soil,  continuing  in 
these  countries  to  manifest  itself. 


* Notes  on  North  America , vol.  i.  chap.  xiit. 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  PROGRESS. 


59 


But  the  influence  of  man  upon  the  productions  of  the 
6oil  is  exhibited  also  in  other  and  more  satisfactory  results. 
The  improver  takes  the  place  of  the  exhauster,  and  follows 
his  footsteps  on  these  same  altered  lands.  Over  the  sandy, 
forsaken  tracts  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  he  spreads  large 
applications  of  shelly  marl,  and  herbage  soon  covers  it  again, 
and  profitable  crops.  Or  he  strews  on  it  thinner  sowings  of 
gypsum,  and  as  if  by  magic  the  yield  of  previous  years  is 
doubled  or  quadrupled.*  Or  he  gathers  the  droppings  of 
his  cattle  and  the  fermented  produce  of  his  barnyard,  and 
lays  it  upon  his  fields — when,  lo ! the  wheat  comes  up 
luxuriantly  again,  and  the  midge,  and  the  rust,  and  the 
yellows,  all  disappear  from  his  wheat,  his  cotton,  and  his 
peach  trees ! 

But  the  renovator  marches  much  slower  than  the  ex- 
hauster. His  materials  are  collected  at  the  expense  of  both 
time  and  money,  and  barrenness  ensues  from  the  easy 
labours  of  the  one  far  more  rapidly  than  green  herbage  can 
be  made  to  cover  it  again  by  the  most  skilful,  zealous,  and 
assiduous  labours  of  the  other.  But  nevertheless,  among 
energetic  nations,  this  second  tide  follows  inevitably  upon 
the  first,  as  they  advance  in  age,  in  wealth,  and  in  civilisa- 
tion. Though  long  mismanagement  has,  in  a minor  sense, 
desolated  large  portions  of  north-eastern  America,  a new 
fringe  of  verdant  fields  has  already  begun  to  follow  towards 
the  west,  though  at  a long  interval,  the  fast-retiring  green 
belt  of  the  virgin  forests.  A race  of  new  cultivators,  taught 
to  treat  the  soil  more  skilfully,  to  give  their  due  weight 
to  its  geological  origin,  to  its  chemical  history,  to  the  con- 
ditions of  climate  by  which  it  is  affected,  and  to  the  reckless 
usage  to  which  it  has  so  long  been  subjected — this  new  race 


* For  examples  of  both  these  results,  see  the  Essay  on  Calcareous  Manures^ 
by  Edward  Ruffin,  the  publication  of  which  in  Virginia,  in  1882,  marks  an  epoch  ii 
ih©  agricultural  history  of  the  slave  states  of  North  America. 


50 


THE  SOIL  WE  CULTIVATE. 


may — will , I hope,  in  time — bring  back  the  whole  region  to 
more  than  its  original  productiveness.  Both  the  inherited 
energy  of  the  whole  people,  and  the  efforts  which  State  agri- 
cultural  societies,  and  numerous  zealous  and  patriotic  indi- 
viduals in  each  State  are  now  making,  justify  us  in  believing 
that  such  a race  of  instructed  men  will  gradually  spread 
itself  over  the  rural  districts  in  every  part  of  the  Union. 
The  previous  success  of  the  mother  country  guarantees  a 
similar  successful  result  to  their  kindred  exertions. 

For  we  have  not  to  go  far  back  in  the  agricultural  history 
of  Great  Britain  to  find  a state  of  things  not  much  different 
from  the  present  condition  of  the  land  in  North  America. 
We  require  to  turn  aside  but  a short  way  from  the  high-road, 
in  some  districts  of  England,  still  to  find  in  living  operation 
nearly  all  the  defects  and  vices  of  the  present  American 
system  of  farming.*  A century  and  a half  has,  I may  say, 
changed  the  whole  surface  of  our  island.  But  what  labour 
has  been  expended,  what  wealth  buried  in  the  soil,  what 
thought  lavished  in  devising  means  for  its  recovery  from 
long-inflicted  sterility  ! Commerce  has  brought  in  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  new  chemical  riches,  to  replace  those  which 
a hundred  previous  generations  had  permitted  rains  and 
rivers  to  wash  out  of  the  soil,  or  to  carry  away  to  the  sea. 
Mechanical  skill  has  given  us  the  means  of  tilling  the  sur- 
face economically,  of  bringing  up  virgin  soils  from  beneath, 
and  of  laying  dry  that  which  over-abundant  water  had  pre- 
vented our  forefathers  from  utterly  impoverishing;  and 
scientific  investigation  has  taught  us  how  best  to  apply  all 
these  new  means  to  the  attainment  of  the  desired  end. 

It  may  be  said,  with  truth,  that  Great  Britain  at  this 
moment  presents  a striking  illustration  of  the  influence  of 
man  in  increasing  the  productiveness  of  the  soil.  This  ex- 

* See,  for  instance,  the  state  of  farming  in  Lancashire,  as  described  in  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Journal , vol.  x.  part  1. 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  PROGRESS. 


51 


ample  guarantees,  as  I have  said,  the  success  of  similar 
operations  in  the  United  States  of  America  and  in  our 
British  colonies ; while  the  now  advanced  condition,  espe- 
cially of  our  chemical  knowledge,  both  in  regard  to  the  soil 
which  is  to  be  cultivated  and  to  the  plants  we  wish  to  grow, 
insures  a far  more  easy  and  certain  advance  to  the  process 
of  restoration  in  these  countries  than  in  past  times  could 
take  place  among  ourselves ; less  waste  of  time  and  money 
in  ill-adjudged  experiments,  and  less  cost  of  labour  in  all  the 
necessary  operations  of  husbandry. 


CHAPTER  IY. 


THE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 


& perfect  plant,  what. — Effects  of  heat  upon  it.— Contains  carbon,  water,  and  mineral 
matter. — Kelations  of  the  plant  to  the  air. — Structure  of  the  leaf. — Its  pores  absorb 
carbonic  acid,  and  give  off  oxygen  gas. — Eelations  to  water.— Structure  of  the  root. 
— Purposes  served  by  water. — Eelations  to  the  soil. — Plants  affect  peaty,  sandy, 
loamy,  or  clay  soils. — Effects  of  the  drain,  of  lime,  or  of  manure.— The  art  of 
manuring. — How  the  colours  of  flowers  may  be  changed. — Effect  of  culture  upon 
wild  plants.— The  carrot,  the  cabbage,  the  turnip. — Garden  fruits,  flowers,  and  vege- 
tables.— Origin  of  wheat  and  its  varieties. — How  these  changes  are  produced. — 
Plants  which  follow  the  footsteps  of  man ; why  they  follow  him. — Eapidity  of 
growth  in  favourable  circumstances. — The  yeast  plant  in  grape  juice. — Manufacture 
of  dry  yeast. — Chemical  changes  within  the  plant. — Production  of  numerous  pecu- 
liar substances — medicines,  perfumes,  and  things  useful  in  the  arts. — The  green  of 
the  leaf,  and  the  poison  of  the  nettle. — The  covering  of  the  ripe  potato,  apple,  and 
young  twig. — General  purposes  served  by  vegetation. — It  adorns  the  landscape. — 
In  relation  to  dead  nature,  it  purifies  the  atmosphere,  produces  vegetable  mould, 
and  forms  deposits  of  combustible  matter. — In  relation  to  living  animals,  it  sup- 
plies subsidiary  luxuries  and  comforts,  but  its  main  use  is  to  feed  them. — Numer- 
ous interesting  chemical  inquiries  suggested  by  the  natural  diversities  and  differ' 
ent  effects  of  the  vegetable  food  consumed  by  herbivorous  and  omnivorous  races. 


A familiaeity  with  the  chemical  relations  of  the  plant  we 
rear  makes  still  more  apparent  the  relations  of  chemistry  to 
the  soil  we  cultivate. 

A perfect  plant  consists  essentially  of  two  parts — the 
stem  and  the  leaf.  The  root  is  an  underground  extension 
of  the  stem,  as  the  bark  is  a downward  prolongation  of  the 
leaf.  The  several  parts  of  the  flower,  also,  are  only  changed 
leaves. 

When  any  part  of  a plant  is  heated  in  a close  vessel,  it 


THE  PLANT  AND  THE  AIR. 


63 


gives  off  water,  vinegar,  and  tarry  matters,  and  leaves  be 
hind  a black,  bulky,  coaly  mass,  known  by  the  name  of  wood 
charcoal ; or  if  billets  of  wood  be  heaped  up  in  the  open  air, 
covered  carefully  over  with  sods,  and  smtf/£er-burned,  as  it 
is  called,  with  little  access  of  air,  the  tar  and  other  matters 
escape  into  the  atmosphere,  while  the  charcoal  remains  un- 
dissipated beneath  the  sod.  This  charcoal  is  an  impure 
form  of  carbon.  The  manufacturer  of  wood-vinegar  collects 
the  volatile  substances  as  the  more  important  products.  The 
charcoal-burner  allows  them  to  escape,  the  black  residue  be- 
ing the  object  of  his  process.  Both  experiments,  however, 
are  the  same  in  substance,  und  both  prove  that  carbon  and 
water  form  large  parts  of  the  weight  of  all  plants. 

If  a piece  of  wood  charcoal  be  burned  in  the  air  it  gradu- 
ally disappears  ; but  when  all  combustion  has  ceased,  there 
remains  behind  a small  proportion 
of  ash.  The  same  is  seen  if  a por- 
tion taken  from  any  part  of  a living 
plant  be  burned  in  the  air.  Even 
a bit  of  straw  kindled  in  the  flame 
of  a candle  (fig.  14),  and  allowed  to 
burn,  will  leave  a sensible  quantity 
of  ash  behind.  All  plants  therefore, 
and  all  parts  of  plants,  besides  water 
and  carbon,  contain  also  a sensible 
proportion  of  mineral  inorganic  mat- 
ter which  is  incombustible,  and  which  remains  unconsumed 
when  they  are  burned  in  the  air. 

The  carbon  of  the  plant  is  chiefly  derived  from  the  air, 
the  water  and  the  mineral  matter  chiefly  from  the  soil  in 
which  it  grows.  Thus  the  plant  we  rear  has  close  chemical 
relations  with  the  air  we  breathe,  with  the  water  we  drink, 
and  with  the  soil  we  cultivate.  I shall  briefly  illustrate 
these  several  relations  in  their  order. 


64 


THE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 


First.  The  plant  is  in  contact  with  the  air,  through  its 
leaves  and  its  bark.  The  surface  of  the  leaf  is  studded  over 
with  numerous  minute  pores  or  mouths  (stomata),  through 
which  gases  and  watery  vapour  are  continually  entering  or 
escaping,  so  long  as  the  plant  lives.  In  the  daytime  they 
give  off  oxygen  and  absorb  carbonic  acid  gas.  During  the 
night  this  process  is  reversed — they  then  absorb  oxygen  and 
give  off  carbonic  acid. 

We  have  already  seen  that  carbonic  acid  consists  of  car- 
bon and  oxygen.*  It  is  from  the  large  excess  of  this  gas 
which  plants  absorb  during  the  day  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  carbon  they  contain  is  usually  derived. 

The  number  and  activity  of  the  little  mouths  which  stud 
the  leaf  are  very  wonderful.  On  a single  square  inch  of  the 
leaf  of  the  common  lilac  as  many  as  120,000  have  been 
counted  ; and  the  rapidity  with  which  they  act  is  so  great, 
that  a thin  current  of  air  passing  over  the  leaves  of  an  ac- 
tively-growing plant  is  almost  immediately  deprived  by  them 
of  the  carbonic  acid  it  contains. 

The  gas  thus  absorbed  enters  into  the  circulation  of  the 
plant,  and  there  undergoes  a series  of  chemical  changes 
which  it  is  very  difficult  to  follow.  The  result,  however,  we 
know  to  be,  that  its  carbon  is  converted  into  starch,  woody 
fibre,  &c.,  to  build  up  the  plant,  while  its  oxygen  is  given 
off  to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  air. 

These  pores  of  the  leaf  absorb  also  other  gaseous  sub- 
stances in  smaller  quantity — such  as  ammonia,  when  it  hap- 
pens to  approach  them  ; and  especially  they  absorb  watery 
vapour,  when  previous  heat  or  drought  has  dried  the  plant, 
and  made  the  leaves  droop  soft  and  flaccid.  Hence  the 
natural  rain  enlivens  and  invigorates  the  herbage,  and  the 
artificial  shower  gives  new  life  to  the  tenants  of  the  conser- 
vatory. The  falling  water  not  only  supplies  their  want  of 


* See  The  Aik  we  breathe. 


WATER  AND  THE  ROOTS. 


65 


fluid,  but  it  washes  also  the  dusty  surface  of  the  leaves,  and 
clears  their  many  mouths,  so  that  with  fresh  vigour  they  can 
suck  in  new  nourishment  from  the  surrounding  air. 

The  green  bark  of  the  young  twig  is  perforated  with 
pores  like  the  green  leaf,  and  acts  upon  the  air  in  a similar 
way ; but  as  it  hardens  and  gets  old  the  pores  become  ob- 
literated, and  it  ceases  to  aid  the  leaves  in  absorbing  car- 
bonic acid,  or  in  giving  off  oxygen  to  the  atmosphere. 

Second . The  water  which  fills  the  vessels  of  the  plant, 
though  partly  derived  from  the  air  in  seasons  of  drought, 
and  drunk  in  by  the  leaves  from  the  dews  and  falling  show- 
ers, is  principally  sucked  up  by  the  roots  from  the  earth  in 
which  it  grows.  These  roots,  as  I have  said,  are  only  down- 
ward expansions  of  the  stem.  At  the  surface  of  the  ground 
they  exhibit  a bark  without  and  a pith  within  the  woody 
portion.  But  as  they  descend,  these  several  parts  disappear, 
and  graduate  into  a porous,  uniform,  spongy  mass,  which 
forms  the  ends  of  the  fibry  rootlets.  Upon  the  surface  of 
these  rootlets  the  microscope  enables  us  to  perceive  numer- 
ous minute  hairs  which,  like  hollow  horns,  thrust  themselves 
laterally  among  the  particles  of  the  soil.  Through  these 
hollow  hairs,  as  it  is  believed,  the  plant  draws  from  the  earth 
the  supplies  of  water  it  constantly  requires,  and  which  in 
droughty  weather  it  so  copiously  pours  out  from  its  leaves 
into  the  air. 

How  interesting  it  is  to  reflect  on  the  minuteness  of  the 
organs  by  which  the  largest  plants  are  fed  and  sustained. 
Microscopic  apertures  in  the  leaf  suck  in  gaseous  food  from 
the  air  \ the  extremities  of  microscopic  hairs  suck  a liquid 
food  from  the  soil.  We  are  accustomed  to  admire,  with 
natural  and  just  astonishment,  how  huge  rocky  reefs,  hun- 
dreds of  miles  in  length,  can  be  built  up  by  the  conjoined 
labours  of  myriads  of  minute  insects  labouring  together  on 
the  surface  of  a coral  rock  ; but  it  is  not  less  wonderful  that, 


» 


66  TilE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 

by  the  ceaseless  working  of  similar  microscopic  agencies  in 
leaf  and  root,  the  substance  of  vast  forests  should  be  built 
up,  and  made  to  grow  before  our  eyes.  It  is  more  wonder- 
ful, in  fact ; for  whereas  in  the  one  case  dead  matter  ex- 
tracted from  the  sea  is  transformed  only  into  a dead  rock,  in 
the  other  the  lifeless  matters  of  the  earth  and  air  are  con- 
verted by  these  minute  plant-builders  into  living  forms, 
lifting  their  heads  aloft  to  the  sky,  waving  with  every  wind 
that  blows,  and  beautifying  whole  continents  with  the  varying 
verdure  of  their  ever-changing  leaves. 

The  water  which  the  roots  absorb,  after  it  has  entered 
the  plant,  serves  many  important  physiological  and  chemical 
purposes.  It  fills  up  mechanically  and  distends  the  nume- 
rous vessels  ; it* mechanically  dissolves,  and  carries  with  it, 
as  it  ascends  and  descends,  the  various  substances  which  are 
contained  in  the  sap ; it  moistens  and  gives  flexibility  to  all 
the  parts  of  the  plant,  and,  by  evaporation  from  the  leaves, 
keeps  it  comparatively  cool,  even  in  the  sunniest  weather. 
But  its  chemical  agencies,  though  less  immediately  sensible, 
are  equally  important.  It  combines  with  the  carbon,  which 
the  leaf  brings  in  from  the  air,  and  forms  woody  fibre,  starch, 
and  gum — all  of  which  consist  of  carbon  and  water  only ; it 
serves  as  a constant  and  ready  storehouse,  also,  for  the  supply 
of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  which  are  required,  now  here  and 
now  there,  for  the  formation  of  the  numerous  different  sub- 
stances which,  in  smaller  quantity  than  starch  or  woody 
fibre,  are  met  with  in  the  different  parts  of  the  plant.  Thou- 
sands of  chemical  changes  are  every  instant  going  on  within 
the  substance  of  a large  and  quickly-growing  tree,  and  in 
nearly  all  these  the  constituent  elements  of  water — its  oxy- 
gen and  hydrogen — play  a constant  part.  The  explanation 
of  these,  though  yet  very  imperfectly  studied,  fills  up 
already  a large  division  of  our  modern  treatises  on  organic 
chemistry. 


THE  PLANT  AND  THE  SOIL 


67 


Third.  To  the  soil  the  plant  is  perceived,  even  by  the 
least  instructed,  to  have  the  closest  relations.  To  the  most 
instructed  these  relations  every  day  appear  more  interesting 
and  wonderful. 

I have  already  adverted,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  to 
what  may  be  called  the  physiological  habits  of  plants,  which 
incline  them  to  grow  upon  soils  which  are  more  or  less  wet, 
more  or  less  sandy  and  porous,  and  more  or  less  heavy  in  the 
agricultural  sense.  Owing  to  these  habits,  every  variety  of 
soil,  in  every  climate,  supports  its  own  vegetable  tribes. 
Thus,  of  the  five  thousand  flowering  plants  of  central 
Europe,  only  three  hundred  grow^cnf  pea^t^^oS^^^^ese 
are  chiefly  rushes  and  sedge^  rrm  e lmmve'  fojj&ts^fcf 
northern  Europe  and  America,  the  unlettdf'SlrSxplorer  hails 
the  gleam  of  the  broad-leafed,  trees  jjlitteijino^i^  itfle  sun, 
amid  the  ocean  of  solemn  pinea^as  a symptom  of  good  land  op 
which  he  may  profitably  settle\\And  ^o  tSPfiidest  peasant 
at  home  knows  that  wheat  and  befft*^  feel  ftA&J %p|^^the 
humblest  north  German,  that  rye  alonean^ffie  potato  are 
suited  to  his  blowing  sands, — and  the  Chinese  peasant,  that 
warm  sloping  banks  of  light  land  are  fittest  for  his  tea  plant, 
and  stiff,  wet,  impervious  clays  for  his  rice.  Even  the  slave 
of  Alabama  is  aware  that  dry  open  alluvials,  and  porous  up- 
lands, suit  best  the  cotton  he  is  forced  to  cultivate ; and  the 
still  more  degraded  slave  of  Pernambuco,  that  the  cocoa 
grows  only  on  the  sandy  soils  of  the  coast — just  as  in  his 
native  West  Africa  the  oil-palms  flourish  on  the  moist  sea- 
sands  that  skirt  the  shore,  and  the  mangroves,  where  muddy 
shallows  are  daily  deserted  by  the  retiring  tide. 

But  these  relations  of  plants  become  more  conspicuous 
when  we  examine  somewhat  closely  the  influence  of  artifi- 
cial changes  in  the  soil  upon  the  kind,  the  growth,  and 
the  character  or  appearance  of  the  plants  which  spring  up 
or  are  sown  upon  it. 

Thus,  when  a peaty  soil  is  drained,  the  heaths  disappear, 

4 


68 


THE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 


and  a soft  woolly  grass  ( Holcus  lanatus)  overspreads  its  sur 
face.  A wet  clay  is  laid  dry,  and  the  rushes  and  water-lov- 
ing plants  are  succeeded  by  sweet  and  nutritious  herbage 
Lime  is  applied,  and  sorrel  and  sour  grasses  are  banished 
from  the  old  pasture ; and  corn  then  ripens  and  fills  the  ear 
where  formerly  it  languished  and  yielded  scanty  returns  of 
unhealthy  grain.  Crushed  bones  are  strewed  over  a meadow, 
and  abundant  milk  and  cheese  show  how  the  eatage  of  cattle 
has  been  improved — or  they  are  drilled  into  the  ploughed 
land,  and  luxuriant  root-crops  exhibit  their  ameliorating 
effect.  Or  guano,  or  the  droppings  of  cattle,  or  the  liquid 
of  the  farmyard,  or  nitrate  of  soda,  are  spread  upon  the 
scanty  pasture,  and  straightway  the  humble  daisy  and  the 
worthless  moss — symbols  of  poverty — disappear,  and  re- 
joicing crops  of  most  fragrant  hay  prove  the  close  connection 
of  the  plant  with  the  soil  on  which  it  grows. 

The  plant  derives,  as  I have  elsewhere  said,  the  whole  of 
its  mineral  matter  from  the  soil,  and  an  important  portion 
also  of  that  which  forms  its  combustible  part.  A naturally 
fertile  soil  contains  all  these  things  in  sufficient  abundance, 
and  can  readily  supply  them  to  the  craving  roots.  The 
waters  which  moisten  the  soil  dissolve  them,  and  the  minute 
hairs  I have  spoken  of  suck  them  up,  and  send  them  through 
the  roots  and  stem  to  the  several  parts  of  the  plant.  The 
art  of  manuring  merely  supplies  to  the  soil  those  necessary 
forms  of  vegetable  food  in  which  it  is  deficient ; and  the  ef- 
fects which  follow  from  the  addition  of  manures  show  how 
closely  the  welfare  of  the  plant  is  connected  with  the  che- 
mical composition  of  the  soil.  The  raw  materials  also,  which 
it  takes  up  by  the  root,  like  those  which  enter  by  the  leaf, 
undergo  within  the  plant  numerous  successive  chemical 
changes,  by  which  they  are  converted  into  the  substance  of 
the  plant  itself,  and  are  fitted  for  those  after  purposes,  in 
reference  to  animal  life,  which,  in  the  economy  of  nature,  the 
plant  fulfils. 


THE  PLANT  AND  THE  MANURE. 


69 


Among  the  pleasing  proofs  of  such  chemical  changes 
taking  place  within  the  plant,  I may  mention  the  effects  upon 
the  colour  of  their  flowers,  which  follow  from  the  application 
of  certain  substances  to  the  roots  of  plants.  Charcoal  pow- 
der darkens  and  enriches  the  flowers  of  the  dahlia,  the  rose, 
the  petunia,  &c.  ; carbonate  of  soda  reddens  ornamental 
hyacinths,  and  super-phosphate  of  soda  alters  in  various  ways 
the  hue  or  bloom  of  other  cultivated  plants.  As  the  dyer 
prepares  the  chemical  ingredients  of  the  baths  into  which  his 
stuffs  are  to  be  dipped,  and  varies  the  one  with  the  colour  he 
is  to  give  to  the  other — so  within  the  plant  the  substances 
applied  to  the  root  are  chemically  prepared  and  mixed,  so  as 
to  produce  the  new  colour  imparted  by  their  means  to  the 
petals  of  the  flower. 

But  such  effects  of  chemical  art  are  far  inferior  both  in 
interest  and  importance  to  those  which  protracted  nursing 
have  produced  upon  our  commonly  cultivated  plants.  The 
large  and  juicy  Altringham  carrot  is  only  the  woody  spindly 
root  of  the  wild  carrot  (j Daucus  carota)  luxuriously  fed. 
Our  cabbages,  cauliflowers,  Kohl-rabis,  and  turnips,  in  all 
their  varieties,  spring  from  one  or  more  species  of  Brassica, 
which  in  their  natural  state  have  poor  woody  bitter  stems 
and  leaves,  and  useless  spindle-shaped  roots.  Our  cultivated 
potato,  with  all  its  varieties,  springs  from  the  tiny  and 
bitter  root  of  the  wild  potato,  which  has  its  native  home 
on  the  sea-shores  of  Chili ; and  our  apples,  plums,  grapes, 
and  other  prized  fruits,  from  well-known  wild  and  little-es- 
teemed progenitors.  Our  gardens  are  full  of  such  vegetable 
transformations. 

It  is  so  also  with  our  corn  plants.  On  the  French  and 
Italian  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  grows  a wild  neglected 
grass  known  by  the  name  of  Aegilops.  Transplanted  to  the 
garden  or  to  the  field,  and  differently  fed,  its  seed  enlarges, 
and,  after  a few  years’  cultivation,  changes  into  perfect  and 
productive  wheat.  From  other  plants  originally  wild  like 


70 


THE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 


this,  though  as  yet  unknown,  have  come  our  oats  and  barley, 
and  rye  and  maize,  in  all  their  varieties,  as  well  as  the 
numerous  forms  of  the  Eastern  durrha,  rice  and  millet,  and 
of  the  less  known  quinoa  of  Upper  Chili  and  Peru.  It  is  the 
new  chemical  conditions  in  which  the  plants  are  placed, 
which  cause  the  more  abundant  introduction  of  certain  forms 
of  food  into  their  circulation,  and  the  more  full  development, 
in  consequence,  either  of  the  whole  plant,  or  of  some  of  its 
more  useful  parts. 

It  is  with  unconscious  reference  to  these  improved  condi- 
tions that  certain  wild  and  useless  plants  attach  themselves 
to  and  appear  affectionately  to  linger  in  the  footsteps  of  man. 
They  follow  him  in  his  migrations  from  place  to  place — ad- 
vance with  him,  like  the  creeping  and  sow  thistles,  as  he 
hews  his  way  through  primeval  forests — reappear  constantly 
on  his  manure-heaps — spring  up,  like  the  common  dock, 
about  his  stables  and  barns — occupy,  like  the  common  plain- 
tain,  the  roadsides  and  ditches  he  makes — or  linger,  like  the 
nettle,  over  the  unseen  ruins  of  his  dwelling,  to  mark 
where  his  abode  has  formerly  been.  Thus,  with  the  Euro- 
pean settler,  European  weeds  in  hundreds  have  spread  over 
all  Northern  America,*  and  are  already  recognised  as  fa- 
miliar things,  speaking  to  them  of  a far-off  home,  by  the 
emigrants  now  landing  in  thousands  on  the  shores  of  Aus- 
tralia and  New  Zealand.  We  cannot  say  that  all  these  have 
followed  the  European.  Many  of  them  have  only  accom- 
panied him,  and,  like  himself,  taken  root  in  what  has  proved 
a favourable  soil.  But  those  which  cling  closest  to  his  foot- 
steps, which  go  only  where  he  goes — which,  like  his  cat  or 
his  dog,  are,  in  a sense  domesticated — these  attend  upon 
him,  because  near  his  dwelling  the  appropriate  chemical 
food  is  found,  which  best  ministers  to  the  wants  of  their 
growing  parts. 


* See  the  author’s  Notes  on  North  America , voi  i.  p.  10 


THE  YEAST  PLANT 


71 


How  singularly  dependent  the  plant  is  upon  the  chemi- 
cal nature  of  the  medium  in  which  it  is  placed,  is  beautifully 
illustrated  by  the  manner  in  which  the  humblest  forms  of 
vegetation  are  seen  to  grow  and  propagate.  The  yeast  with 
which  we  raise  our  bread  is  a minute  plant  belonging  to  the 
division  of  the  Confervas.  If  we  make  a thick  syrup  of  cane- 
sugar,  and  strew  a few  particles  of  this  yeast  upon  it,  they 
will  begin  to  grow  and  propagate,  will  cause  minute  bubbles 
of  gas  to  rise,  and  the  whole  syrup  gradually  to  ferment. 
But  if,  instead  of  a syrup  of  sugar,  we  take  a thick  solution 
of  gum,  the  yeast  will  produce  no  sensible  effect ; it  will 
neither  propagate  nor  cause  a fermentation.  In  the  one 
case  the  minute  plant  has  met  with  a somewhat  congenial 
food ; in  the  other  it  has  found  nothing  on  which  it  can  live 
and  grow. 

But  in  the  juice  of  ripe  grapes  it  has  a more  favourable 
medium  still.  “ If  we  filter  this  juice,  we  obtain  a clear 
transparent  liquid.  Within  half  an  hour  this  liquid  begins 
to  grow,  first  cloudy,  and  afterwards  thick,  to  give  off  bubbles 
of  gas,  or  to  ferment,  and  in  three  hours  a greyish-yellow 
layer  of  yeast  has  already  collected  on  its  surface.  In  the 
heat  of  the  fermentation  the  plants  are  produced  by  millions 
— a single  cubic  inch  of  such  yeast,  free  from  adhering  water, 
containing  eleven  hundred 
and  fifty-two  millions  of  the 
minute  organisms.”  The  an- 
nexed woodcut  (fig.  15) 
shows  the  appearance  of  the 
yeast  plant,  as  seen  under 
the  microscope  when  the 
propagation  is  in  full  ac- 
tivity, as  sketched  by 
Turpin.  The  cells  or  glo- 
bules vary  in  size  from  tjitoo  Yeast  in  wort  for  eight  hours’  showin«~ 

. ! „ m vi,*  i The  transparency  of  the  yeast  cells. 

tO  2T0T0  ot  an  JcrngllSil  inch.  The  granules  or  nuclei  in  their  interior* 

mi  • • n x 1 How  they  germinate  and  multiply. 

-the  juice  ot  the  grape  How  they  unite  into  jointel  filaments 


Fig.  15. 


72 


THE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 


thus  readily  propagates  the  seeds  of  yeast  which  acciden- 
ally  reach,  or  are  naturally  present  in  it,  because  it  contains 
the  food  which,  in  kind,  in  form,  and  in  quantity,  is  best 
suited  to  its  rapid  growth.* 

And  so  it  is  with  larger  plants  in  the  soil.  They  grow 
well  and  healthily,  if  it  contain  the  food  in  which  they  de- 
light. They  droop  if  such  food  is  absent,  and  again  burst 
into  joyful  life  when  we  supply  by  art  those  necessary  ingre- 
dients in  which  the  soil  is  deficient. 

But  the  special  chemical  changes  that  go  on  within  the 
plant,  could  we  follow  them,  would  appear  not  less  wonder- 
ful than  the  rapid  production  of  entire  microscopic  vegeta- 
bles from  the  raw  food  contained  in  the  juice  of  the  grape. 
It  is  as  yet  altogether  incomprehensible,  even  to  the  most 


* Whence  comes  the  seeds  of  this  yeast  plant,  which  propagates  itself  with  such 
wonderful  rapidity  ? Do  they  exist  already  in  the  juice  of  the  living  grape  ? Do 
they  cliDg  to  the  exterior  of  the  fruit,  and  only  become  mixed  with  the  juice  when 
it  is  in  the  wine- press,  or  do  they  float  perpetually  in  the  air,  ready  to  germinate  and 
multiply  wherever  they  obtain  a favourable  opportunity  ? Whichever  way  they 
come,  it  would  be  too  slow  a process  to  wait  for  the  natural  appearance  of  these 
plants  in  the  worts  of  the  brewer  and  distiller.  In  these  manufactories,  therefore, 
it  is  customary  to  add  a little  yeast  to  the  liquor  as  soon  as  it  is  considered  ready 
for  the  fermentation.  Then,  as  in  the  case  of  the  grape,  the  growth  and  propagation 
of  the  plant  proceed  with  astonishing  rapidity,  and  large  quantities  of  yeast  are  pro- 
duced. This  yeast  in  many  distilleries  forms  an  important  by-product  of  the  ma- 
nufactory, and  is  collected  and  sold  under  the  name  of  dry  yeast,  for  the  use  of  the 
private  brewer  and  the  baker.  When  this  is  done,  the  process  adopted  is  nearly  as 
follows:  Crushed  rye  is  mashed  with  the  proper  quantity  of  barley  malt,  and  the 
wort,  when  made,  cooled  to  the  proper  temperature.  For  every  hundred  pounds  of 
the  crushed  grain,  there  are  now  added  half  a pound  of  carbonate  of  soda,  and  six 
ounces  of  oil  of  vitriol  (sulphuric  acid)  diluted  with  much  water,  and  the  wort  is 
then  brought  into  fermentation  by  the  addition  of  yeast  From  the  strongly-ferment- 
ing liquid  the  yeast  is  skimmed  off,  and  strained  through  a hair  sieve  into  cold  wa- 
ter, through  which  it  is  allowed  to  settle.  It  is  afterwards  washed  with  one  or  two 
waters,  and  finally  pressed  in  cloth  bags  till  it  has  the  consistence  of  dough.  It  has 
a pleasant  fruity  smell,  and  in  a cool  place  may  be  kept  for  two  or  three  weeks.  It 
then  passes  into  a putrefying  decomposition,  acquires  the  odour  of  decaying  cheese, 
and,  like  decaying  cheese,  has  now  the  property  of  changing  sugar  inte  lactic  acidy 
instead  of  into  alcohol,  as  before.  A hundred  pounds  of  crushed  grain  will  yield  six 
to  eight  pounds  of  the  crushed  yeast.  It  is  made  largely  at  Rotterdam,  and  is  in* 
ported  thence  to  this  country  through  Hull 


CHANGES  OF  MATTER  IN  THE  PLANT. 


73 


refined  physiological  chemistry,  how,  from  the  same  food 
taken  in  from  the  air,  and  from  generally  similar  food  drawn 
up  from  the  soil,  different  plants,  and  different  parts  of 
plants,  should  be  able  to  extract  or  produce  substances  so 
very  different  from  each  other  in  composition  and  in  all 
their  properties.  From  the  seed-vessels  of  one  (the  poppy), 
we  collect  a juice  which  dries  up  into  our  commercial  opium ; 
from  the  bark  of  another  (cinchona)  we  extract  the  quinine 
with  which  we  assuage  the  raging  fever  ; from  the  leaves  of 
others,  like  those  of  hemlock  and  tobacco,  we  distil  deadly 
poisons,  often  of  rare  value  for  their  medicinal  uses.  The 
flowers  and  leaves  and  seeds  of  some  yield  volatile  oils, 
which  we  delight  in  for  their  odours  and  their  aromatic  qua- 
lities ; the  seeds  of  others  give  fixed  nils,  which  are  prized 
for  the  table  or  for  use  in  the  arts.  The  wood  of  some  is 
rich  in  valuable  dyes,  while  from  that  of  others  exude  tur- 
pentines and  resins  of  varied  degrees  of  worth — from  the 
cheap  rosin  of  the  tinsmith  and  soapmaker  to  the  costlier 
myrrh  and  aloes  and  benzoin  which  millions  still  burn,  as 
acceptable  incense,  before  the  altars  of  their  gods. 

These,  and  a thousand  other  similar  facts,  tell  us  how 
wonderfully  varied  are  the  changes  which  the  same  original 
forms  of  matter  undergo  in  the  interior  of  living  plants. 
Indeed,  whether  we  regard  the  vegetable  as  a whole  or  exa- 
mine its  minutest  parts,  we  find  equal  evidence  of  the  same 
diversity  of  changes,  and  of  the  same  production,  in  compa 
ratively  minute  quantities,  of  very  different,  yet  often  very 
characteristic  forms  of  matter. 

Thus,  looking  at  a large  tree  as  a whole,  we  are  charmed 
with  the  brilliant  green  foliage  which  invests  it  when  summer 
has  come,  and  to  which  the  landscape  owes  half  its  charms. 
Yet  chemistry  tells  us  that  all  this  effect  of  colour  is  pro- 
duced by  the  fraction  of  an  ounce  of  colouring  matter  dis 
tributed  evenly  over  its  thousands  of  leaves  ! Or  taking  up 


74 


THE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 


the  leaf  of  a nettle,  and  picking  off  one  of  its  minute  stinging 

prickles,  chemistry,  by  the  aid 
of  the  microscope,  assures  us 
that  the  pain  it  causes,  when 
allowed  to  pierce  the  skin,  arises 
from  a reservoir  of  a peculiar 
acid  (the  formic  acid),  which, 
like  the  poison  of  the  serpent’s 
tooth,  is  squeezed  into  the  wound 
which  the  spikelet  makes. 

The  characteristic  property 
of  the  minute  nettle-hair,  and 
the  peculiar  charm  of  the  wide 
landscape,  are  equally  dependent 
upon  the  production  in 
plants  of  special  forms  of  mat 
ter  in  comparatively  minute  pro- 
portions. 

The  tuber  of  the  potato,  the  ripening  apple,  and  the  grow 
ing  twig,  present  us  with  another  illustration  of  special  che- 
mical changes  proceeding  continuously  in  the  plant,  and  with 
a definite  reference  to  a specific  and  useful  end.  The  unripe 
potato,  when  tali  m from  the  earth,  withers  and  shrivels,  be- 
comes unsightlj  to  the  eye,  and  vapid  to  the  taste ; the  un- 
ripe apple  shrinks  in,  refuses  to  retain  its  natural  dimensions, 
and  cannot  be  kept  for  any  length  of  time  ; while  the  unripe 
twig  perishes  amidst  the  chills  of  winter,  and  remains  black 
and  dead  when  the  green  buds  of  spring  were  expected  to  en- 
liven its  surface.  These  effects  are  the  consequence  of  the 
thin  bark  which  covers  potato,  apple,  and  twig  alike,  not 
having  attained  its  matured  composition.  While  unripe,  this 
coating  is  porous  and  pervious  to  water,  so  that,  when  re- 
moved from  the  parent  plant,  tuber,  fruit,  and  twig  all  give 
off  water  by  evaporation  to  the  air,  and  thus  shrivel  and 


Fig.  16. 


The  acid  is  contained  in  these 
elastic  cells  at  the  base  of 
the  prickly  hair. 


CORK  SKIN  OF  THE  POTATO. 


75 


shrink  in  as  I have  described.  But  when  ripe,  this  porous 
covering  has  become  chemically  changed  into  a thin  imper- 
vious coating  of  cork , through  which  water  can  scarcely  pass, 
and  by  which,  therefore,  it  is  confined  within  for  months  to- 
gether. It  is  this  cork-layer  whicb  enables  the  potato  to 
keep  the  winter  through,  the  winter  pear  and  winter  apple 
to  be  brought  to  table  in  spring  of  their  full  natural  dimen- 
sions, and  the  ripened  twig  to  retain  its  sap  undried,  and  to 
feed  the  young  bud  when  the  April  sun  first  wakens  it  from 
its  winter’s  sleep. 

Nor  are  the  general  purposes  for  which  the  entire  plant 
lives,  and  is  the  theatre,  so  to  speak,  of  so  many  changes,  to 
be  properly,  I may  say  at  all  appreciated  without  the  assist- 
ance of  chemical  research. 

It  is  true  that  every  one  can  recognise  in  the  natural 
herbage  and  the  wild  forest  the  ornaments  of  the  landscape  ; 
in  the  thousand  odours  they  distil,  and  in  the  varied  hues 
and  forms  with  which  they  sprinkle  the  surface,  the  most 
agreeable  and  refined  ministers  to  our  sensual  pleasures. 
And  in  these  things  we  unquestionably  see  some  of  the  true 
purposes  served  by  vegetation  in  the  economy  of  nature. 
But  they  are  subsidiary  purposes — which  they  serve,  by  the 
way,  as  it  were,  while  labouring  to  fulfil  their  true  and  greater 
vocation. 

This  vocation  may  be  viewed  in  two  aspects— -first,  as 
regards  dead  nature  ; and,  second , as  regards  living  things. 

First , In  its  relations  to  dead  nature,  the  plant  serves, 
while  living,  to  purify  the  air  we  breathe.  It  continually 
absorbs  carbonic  acid  and  gives  off  oxygen  gas,  and  thus  is 
a chief  instrument  in  maintaining  the  normal  condition  of  the 
atmosphere.  It  renders  the  air  more  fit  for  the  support  of 
animal  life,  both  by  removing  that  which  is  noxious  (the  car- 
bonic acid),  and  by  pouring  into  it  that  which  is  salutary 
(the  oxygen)  to  animal  health  and  life.  And  then,  when  it 


76 


THE  PLANT  WE  REAR. 


dies,  it  either  covers  the  earth  with  a vegetable  mould, 
which  favours  the  growth  of  new  generations  of  plants,  or  it 
accumulates  into  beds  of  peat  or  mineral  coal,  by  which  man 
is  long  after  to  be  warmed,  and  the  arts  of  life  promoted. 
But  in  either  case  it  only  lingers  for  a while  in  these  less 
sightly  mineral  forms.  It  gradually  assumes  again  the  gas- 
eous state,  and  whether  it  is  allowed  naturally  to  decay,  or 
is  burned  in  the  fire,  ultimately  arises  again  into  the  air  in 
the  form  of  carbonic  acid.  By  this  means,  in  part,  vegeta- 
tion is  perpetuated  upon  the  globe,  and  the  natural  compo- 
sition of  the  atmosphere,  as  regards  the  proportion  of  the 
arbonic  acid  gas,  is  permanently  maintained.  And, 

Second , As  regards  living  animals,  we  all  know  and  feel 
that  plants  are  necessary  to  our  daily  life.  Utterly  dry  up 
and  banish  vegetation  from  a region,  and  nearly  every  sensi- 
ble form  of  animal  life  forthwith  disappears.  But  how  do 
plants  feed  us  ? And  by  what  virtues  in  their  several  parts 
can  the  ox  thrive  on  the  straw,  while  man  can  live  only  on 
the  grain  ? How  on  the  nut  and  fruit  of  the  tree  only  can 
human  life  be  permanently  sustained,  while  the  leaves  and 
twigs  of  the  thick  forest  sustain  the  lordly  elephant  ? 

As  to  dead  nature,  the  plant  serves  a subsidiary  purpose 
in  covering  and  adorning  it — so  to  living  nature,  to  man 
especially,  it  serves  a similar  subsidiary  purpose  in  pro- 
ducing the  numerous  remarkable  products,  to  which  I have 
already  alluded  as  being  useful  in  medicine  and  the  arts,  and 
as  ministering  to  the  luxuries  and  comfort  of  civilised  life. 
In  the  production  of  these  we  recognise  a destined  and  be- 
nevolent purpose  served  by  the  general  vegetation  of  the 
globe,  in  reference  to  living  things.  But  this  purpose  is 
only  secondary,  and,  as  it  were,  ornamental.  The  main  ob- 
ject of  the  plant,  in  its  relations  to  the  animal,  is  to  feed  it. 
This  it  does  with  various  forms  of  vegetable  matter  in  differ- 
ent climes  and  countries,  and  it  provides  for  each  herbi- 


INTERESTING  CHEMICAL  INQUIRIES. 


77 


rorous  and  carnivorous  race  those  peculiar  forms  on  which 
it  best  loves,  because  best  fitted,  to  feed.  It  is  so  with  man 
His  vegetable  food  varies  with  the  part  of  the  world  in  which 
he  is  situated  ; yet  upon  all  the  varieties  with  which  differ- 
ent climates  furnish  him,  he  discovers  the  means  continuous- 
ly to  sustain  himself. 

Of  what  chemical  substances  do  these  different  forms  of 
nutritious  food  consist  ? What  do  they  possess  in  common  ? 
In  what  do  they  differ  ? Why  do  some  of  them,  weight  for 
weight,  sustain  the  body  more  completely  or  for  a longer 
time  than  others  ? Why  do  they  affect  the  dispositions  of 
those  who  consume  them — not  only  the  constitution  of  indi- 
viduals, but  the  habits,  temperament,  and  character  of  whole 
nations  ? Why  do  we  choose  to  mix  the  forms  of  vegetable 
food  we  consume — whence  come  the  fashions  of  universal 
cookery — whence  the  peculiarities  of  national  dishes  ? 

What  a host  of  curious  chemical  inquiries  spring  up  m 
connection  with  the  plant  we  rear,  regarded  as  the  main  sus- 
tenance or  staff  of  common  life  ? I shall  consider  some  of 
them  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


Tbe  grain  of  wheat. — Bran  and  flour. — Separation  of  flour  into  starch  and  gluten. — 
Fermenting  of  dough. — Baking  of  bread. — New  and  stale  bread. — Proportion  ol 
water  in  flour  and  in  bread.— Composition  of  bread.— Bran  richer  in  gluten.— Com- 
parative composition. — Wheaten  and  rye  bread  compared. — Oatmeal  and  Indian- 
corn  meal.— Composition  of  rice. — Buckwheat,  quinoa,  Guinea  corn,  anddhurra. — 
Composition  of  beans,  peas,  and  lupins. — The  sago  palm,  and  the  seeds  of  the  arau- 
caria.—The  fruits  of  the  banana,  the  date  palm,  the  fig  tree,  and  the  bread-fruit  tree. 
— Water  contained  in  fruits  and  roots. — The  turnip,  carrot,  and  potato. — The  com- 
position of  rice,  the  potato,  and  the  plantain  compared. — Deformity  among  the  eaters 
of  these  three  vegetables.— The  Siberian  lily. — The  use  of  leaves  as  food.— The 
cabbage  very  nutritious. — Natural  tendency  of  man  to  adjust  the  constituents  of 
his  food. — Irish  kol-cannon. — Starvation  upon  arrow-root  and  tapioca.— General 
character  of  a nutritious  diet — National  and  individual  influence  of  diet. 

The  bread  we  eat  I take  as  tbe  type  of  our  vegetable  food. 
On  such  food  of  various  kinds,  and  eaten  in  various  forms, 
man  and  animals  are  sustained  in  all  parts  of  the  globe.  The 
study  of  our  common  wheaten  bread  will  give  us  the  key  to 
the  composition  and  known  usefulness  of  them  all. 

1°.  Wheat. — When  the  grain  of  wheat  is  crushed  be- 
tween the  stones  of  the  mill,  and  is  then  sifted,  it  is  separat- 
ed into  two  parts — the  bran  and  the  flour.  The  bran  is  the 
outside,  harder  part  of  the  grain,  which  does  not  crush  so 
readily,  and  when  it  does  crush,  darkens  the  colour  of  the 
flour.  It  is  therefore  generally  sifted  out  by  the  miller,  and 


80 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


is  used  for  feeding  horses,  pigs,  and  other  animals,  or  ever; 
for  applying  to  the  land  as  a manure. 

* If  the  flour  be  mixed  with  a quantity  of  water  sufficient 
to  moisten  it  thoroughly,  the  particles  cohere  and  form  a 
smooth,  elastic  and  tenacious  dough,  which  admits  of  being 
drawn  out  to  some  extent,  and  of  being  moulded  into  a va- 
riety of  forms.  If  this  dough  be  placed  upon  a sieve  or  on 
a piece  of  muslin,  and  worked  with  the  hand  under  a stream 

of  water  (fig.  17), 
as  long  as  the  water 
passes  through  mil- 
ky, there  will  re- 
main at  last  upon 
the  sieve  a white 
sticky  substance,  ve- 
ry much  resembling 
birdlime.  This  is 
the  substance  which 
gives  its  tenacity  to 
the  dough.  From 
its  glutinous  cha- 
racter it  has  obtain- 
ed among  chemists 
the  name  of  gluten.  When  the  milky  water  has  become 
clear  by  standing,  a white  powder  will  be  found  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  vessel,  which  is  common  wheaten  starch.  Thus 
the  flour  of  wheat  contains  two  principal  substances,  gluten 
and  starch.  Of  the  former,  every  100  lb.  of  fine  English 
flour  contain  about  10  lb.,  and  of  the  latter  about  70  lb. 

The  way  in  which  the  bran,  the  gluten,  and  the  starch 
are  respectively  distributed  throughout  the  body  of  the  seeds 
of  our  corn  plants  is  shown  in  the  following  section  of  a grain 
of  rye  when  fully  ripe. 


Fig.  it. 


Mode  of  separating  the  gluten  from  the  starch  of  Wheat. 


A GRAIN  OF  CORN. 


8i 


In  the  figure  to  the  left,  a represents  the  outer  seed-coat 
consisting  of  three  rows  of  thick- walled  cells ; b the  inner 
Fig.  13. 


Structure  of  a grain  of  Rye. 


(see  p.  100). 


seed-coat,  composed  of  a single  layer  of  thick-walled  cells, 
haying  scarcely  any  cavity ; c a layer  of  cells  containing  glu- 
ten. These  three  together  form  the  bran,  d represents  the 
cellular  tissue  of  the  albumen,*  consisting  of  large  roundish 
hexagonal  cells,  which  contain  grains  of  starch. 

The  middle  figure  exhibits  one  of  the  cells  of  the  albu- 
men more  highly  magnified,  and  shows  how  the  grains  of 
starch  are  disposed  in  it.  The  small  figures  to  the  right  are 
grains  of  starch  still  more  highly  magnified.  Their  natural 
size  varies  from  a ten-thousandth  to  a six-hundredth  of  an  inch. 

The  outer  coating  contains  only  three  or  four  per  cent,  of 
gluten,  the  inner  coating  from  fourteen  to  twenty  per  cent. 
All  this  is  separated  in  the  bran.  Throughout  the  mass 
of  the  grain  around  and  within  the  albumen  cells  the  glu- 
ten is  diffused  every  where  among  the  grains  of  starch. 

When  a little  yeast  is  added  to  the  flour  before  or  while 
it  is  being  mixed  with  water  into  a dough,  and  the  dough  is 
then  placed  for  an  hour  or  two  in  a warm  atmosphere,  it 
begins  to  rise — it  ferments,  that  is,  and  swells  or  increases 
in  bulk.  Bubbles  of  gas  (carbonic  acid  gas)  are  disengaged 

* The  reader  must  not  confound  this  word  albumen , used  by  botanists  to  denoto 
the  white  inner  part  of  the  seed,  w ith  the  same  word  used  in  chemistry  as  the  name 
of  the  ivhite  of  the  egg. 


82 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


in  the  interior  of  the  dough,  which  is  thereby  rendered  lighi 
and  porous.  If  it  be  now  put  into  a hot  oven,  the  fermenta 
tion  and  swelling  are  at  first  increased  by  the  higher  tempe- 
rature ; but  when  the  whole  has  been  heated  nearly  to  the 
temperature  of  boiling  water,  the  fermentation  is  suddenly 
arrested,  and  the  mass  is  fixed  by  the  after  baking  in  the 
form  it  has  then  attained.* 

It  is  now  newly-baked  bread,  and  if  it  be  cut  across  it  will 
appear  light  and  spongy,  being  regularly  sprinkled  oyer  with 
little  cavities,  which  were  produced  in  the  soft  dough  by  the 
bubbles  of  gas  given  off  during  the  fermentation.  This  fer- 
mentation is  the  consequence  of  a peculiar  action,  which 
yeast  exercises  upon  moist  flour.  It  first  changes  a part  of 
the  starch  of  the  flour  into  sugar,  and  then  converts  this  sugar 
into  alcohol  and  carbonic  acid,  in  the  same  way  as  it  does 
when  it  is  added  to  the  worts  of  the  brewer  or  the  distiller. 
As  the  gas  cannot  escape  from  the  glutinous  dough,  it  col- 
lects within  it  in  large  bubbles,  and  makes  it  swell,  till  the 
heat  of  the  oven  kills  the  yeast  plant,  and  causes  the  fermen- 
tation to  cease.  The  alcohol  escapes,  for  the  most  part,  dur- 
ing the  baking  of  the  loaf,  and  is  dissipated  in  the  oven. 

New-baked  bread  possesses  a peculiar  softness  and  te- 
nacity which  is  familiar  to  most  people,  and  though  generally 
considered  less  digestible  is  a favourite  with  many.  After 
two  or  three  days  it  loses  its  softness,  becomes  free  and 
crumbly,  and  apparently  drier.  In  common  language,  the 
bread  becomes  stale,  or  it  is  stale  bread.  It  is  generally 
supposed  that  this  change  arises  from  the  bread  becoming 
actually  drier  by  the  gradual  loss  of  water  ; but  this  is  not 
the  case.  Stale  bread  contains  almost  exactly  the  same  pro- 
portion of  water  as  new  bread  after  it  has  become  completely 

* The  formation  of  hard  crusts  on  the  loaf  may  be  prevented  by  rubbing  a little 
nelted  lard  over  it  after  it  is  shaped,  and  before  it  is  set  down  to  rise,  or  by  baking  it 
k\  a covered  tin. 


WATER  IN  FLOUR  AND  IN  BREAD. 


83 


cold.  The  change  is  merely  in  the  internal  arrangement  of 
the  molecules  of  the  bread.  A proof  of  this  is,  that  if 
we  put  a stale  loaf  into  a closely-covered  tin,  expose  it  for 
half  an  hour  or  an  hour  to  a heat,  not  exceeding  that  of  boil- 
ing water,  and  then  remove  the  tin,  and  allow  it  to  cool,  the 
loaf,  when  taken  out,  will  be  restored  in  appearance  and  pro- 
perties to  the  state  of  new  bread. 

The  quantity  of  water  which  well-baked  wheaten  bread 
contains,  amounts  on  an  average  to  about  forty  five  per  cent. 
The  bread  we  eat,  therefore,  is  nearly  one-half  water ; — it  is, 
in  fact,  both  meat  and  drink  together. 

The  flour  of  wheat  and  of  other  kinds  of  grain  contains 
water  naturally,  but  it  absorbs  much  more  during  the  pro- 
cess of  conversion  into  bread.  One  hundred  pounds  of  fine 
wheaten  flour  take  up  fifty  pounds,  or  half  their  weight  of 
water,  and  give  150  pounds  of  bread.  Thus,  100  of  English 
flour  and  150  of  bread  contain  respectively — 

The  flour  contains  The  bread  contains 


Dry  flour,  . . 

84 

84 

Natural  water,  . 

. 16 

16 

Water  added,  . 



50 

mo  lb. 

150  lb. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  bread  retains  so  much  water  is, 
that  during  the  baking  a portion  of  the  starch  is  converted 
into  gum,  which  holds  water  more  strongly  than  starch  does. 
A second  is,  that  the  gluten  of  flour,  when  once  thoroughly 
wet,  is  very  difficult  to  dry  again,  and  that  it  forms  a tena- 
cious coating  round  every  little  hollow  cell  in  the  bread 
which  coating  does  not  readily  allow  the  gas  contained  in 
the  cell  to  escape,  or  the  water  to  dry  up  and  pass  off  in  va- 
pour ; and  a third  reason  is,  that  the  dry  crust  which  forms 
round  the  bread  in  baking  is  nearly  impervious  to  water 
and,  like  the  skin  of  a potato  which  we  bake  in  the  oven  or 


84 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


in  the  hot  cinders,  prevents  the  moisture  within  fiom  eso&p 

in  g. 

The  proportions  of  water,  gluten,  and  starch  or  gum,  b 
well-baked  wheaten  bread,  are  nearly  as  follows  : — 


Water, 45 

Gluten,  ...»  ...  6 

Starch,  sugar,  and  gum,  ...  49 


100 

The  bran  or  husk  of  whea^  wnich  is  separated  from  the 
fine  flour  in  the  mill,  and  is  often  condemned  to  humbler 
uses,  is  somewhat  moit*  nutritious  than  either  the  grain  as  a 
whole,  or  the  whiter  part  of  the  flour.  The  nutritive 
quality  of  any  variety  of  grain  depends  very  much  upon  the 
proportion  of  gluten  which  it  contains ; and  the  proportions 
of  this  in  the  whole  grain,  the  bran  and  the  fine  flour 
respectively,  of  t?>e  same  sample  of  wheat,  are  very  nearly  as 
follows  : 

Whole  gratis 12  per  cent. 

Whole  bra«  * outer  and  inner  skins).  14  to  18  „ 

Fino  floiw, 10  „ 

If  the  grain,  as  a whole,  contain  more  than  twelve  per  cent, 
of  gluten,  the  bran  and  the  flour  will  also  contain  more  than 
is  above  represented,  and  in  a like  proportion.  The  whole 
meal  obtained  by  simply  grinding  the  grain  is  equally  nutri- 
tious with  the  grain  itself.  By  sifting  out  the  bran  we  ren- 
der the  meal  less  nutritious,  weight  for  weight ; and  when 
we  consider  that  the  bran  is  rarely  less,  and  is  sometimes 
considerably  more,  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  weight  of 
the  grain,  we  must  see  that  the  total  separation  of  the  cover- 
ing of  the  grain  causes  much  waste  of  wholesome  human 
food.  Bread  made  from  the  whole  meal  is  therefore  more 
nutritious  ; and  as  many  persons  find  it  also  a more  salutary 
food  than  white  bread  it  ought  to  be  more  generallj  pre* 
ferred  and  used. 


BARLEY  AND  RYE. 


85 


The  woodcut  and  explanations  given  in  p.  81,  show  that 
the  gluten  of  the  husk  resides  chiefly  in  the  inner  covering 
of  the  grain.  Hence  the  outer  covering  may  be  removed 
without  sensible  loss  of  nutriment,  leaving  the  remainder 
both  more  nutritious  than  before,  weight  for  weight,  and  also 
more  digestible  than  when  the  thin  outer  covering  is  left 
upon  the  corn.  An  ingenious  American  instrument  has  been 
patented,  by  which  this  removal  of  the  outer  coating  is  said 
to  be  completely  effected  without  injury  to  the  bulk  of  the 
grain. 

It  is  also  a point  of  some  interest  that  the  small  or  tail 
corn,  which  the  farmer  separates  before  bringing  his  grain 
to  market,  and  usually  grinds  for  his  own  use,  is  richer  in 
gluten  than  the  plump  full-grown  grain,  and  is  therefore 
more  nutritious. 

2°.  Barley  and  Bye  resemble  the  grain  of  wheat  very 
much  in  composition  and  nutritive  quality.  They  differ 
from  it  somewhat  in  flavour  and  colour,  and  do  not  make  so 
fair  and  spongy  a bread.  They  are  not  generally  preferred, 
therefore,  in  countries  where  other  grains  thrive  and  ripen. 
Two  samples  of  newly- baked  wheat  and  rye  bread,  made  and 
examined  under  the  same  circumstances,  were  found  to  con- 
sist respectively  of 


Water, 

Wheaten  bread. 

• . 48 

Rye  bread. 

48} 

Gluten, 

• • 

..  . 5* 

5} 

Starch,  &c., 

. 

. . 46} 

46^ 

100 

ieo 

So  that  in  composition  and  nutritive  quality  these  two  kinds 
of  bread  very  closely  resemble  each  other  ; and  except  as 
concerns  our  taste,  it  is  a matter  of  indifference  whether  we 
live  on  the  one  or  the  other.  Bye  bread  possesses  one 
quality  which  is  in  some  respects  a valuable  one  : it  retains 
its  freshness  and  moisture  for  a longer  time  than  wheaten 


86 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


bread,  and  can  be  kept  for  months  without  becoming  hard, 
dry,  or  unpalatable.  This  arises  principally  from  certain 
peculiar  properties  possessed  by  the  variety  of  gluten  which 
exists  in  the  grain  of  rye. 

3°.  Indian  ^orn  also  resembles  wheat  in  composition  and 
nutritive  quality.  Its  grain  has  a peculiar  flinty  hardness, 
and  its  flour,  usually  known  as  Indian  meal,  a flavour  which 
in  this  country  is  not  at  first  relished.  It  does  not  bake  into 
the  same  light  spongy  loaves  as  wheaten  flour,  but  it  is 
excellent  in  the  form  of  cakes.  The  chief  peculiarity  in  its 
composition  is,  that  it  contains  more  oil  or  fat  than  any  of 
our  common  grains.  This  oil  sometimes  amounts  to  as 
much  as  nine  pounds  in  the  hundred,  and  is  supposed  to  irm 
part  to  Indian  corn  a peculiar  fattening  quality. 

4°.  Oats  are  a favourite  food  in  our  island  for  horses, 
and  in  Scotland  especially  are  much  esteemed  as  an  agree- 
able, nutritious,  and  wholesome  food  for  man.  The  meal  of 
this  grain  is  distinguished  for  its  richness  in  gluten,  and  for 
containing  more  fatty  matter  than  any  other  of  our  cereal 
grains.  To  these  two  circumstances  it  owes  its  eminently 
nutritious  and  wholesome  character.  The  average  relative 
proportions  of  gluten,  fat,  and  starch  contained  in  fine 
wheaten  flour,  in  Scotch  oatmeal,  and  in  Indian-corn  meal, 
are  represented  by  the  following  numbers  : — 


English 
fine  wheaten 
flour. 

Bran 

of  English 
wheat. 

Scotch 

oatmeal. 

Indian- 
corn  meal. 

Wator, 

16 

13 

14 

14 

Gluten, 

10 

18 

18 

12 

Fat,  . . . 

2 

6 

6 

8 

Starch,  &c., 

72 

63 

62 

66 

100 

100 

100 

100 

pacE. 


87 


The  large  proportion  of  fatty  matter  contained  in  Indian 
corn  not  only  adapts  it  well  for  fattening  animals,  but  makes 
it  more  grateful  to  the  alimentary  canal,  and  therefore  more 
wholesome.  I have  inserted  in  the  above  table  a column 
showing  the  average  composition  of  the  bran  of  English 
wheat,  for  the  purpose  of  showing,  first,  how  large  a propor- 
tion of  fat  it  also  contains,  compared  with  fine  wheaten  flour  ; 
and,  second , the  remarkable  similarity  in  composition,  in 
some  respects,  which  exists  between  the  bran  of  wheat  and 
the  meal  of  the  oat. 

Owing  to  a peculiar  quality  of  the  gluten  which  the  oat 
contains,  the  meal  of  this  grain  does  not  admit  of  being  baked 
into  a light  fermented  spongy  bread.  It  has  been  alleged 
against  oatmeal,  that  when  used  as  the  sole  food,  without 
milk  or  other  animal  diet,  it  produces  heat  and  irritability 
of  the  skin,  aggravates  skin  diseases,  and  sometimes 
occasions  boils,  in  the  same  way  as  salt  meat  tends  to  pro- 
duce scurvy.  Dr.  Pereira,  a high  authority,  says  that  this 
charge  has  been  made  without  just  grounds.  At  all  events, 
it  must  be  very  rarely  that  circumstances  render  necessary 
for  any  length  of  time  such  an  exclusive  consumption  of  oat- 
meal. 

5°.  Rice  is  remarkable  chiefly  for  the  comparatively 
small  proportion  of  gluten  it  contains.  This  does  not  ex- 
ceed seven  or  eight  per  cent. — less  than  half  the  quantity 
contained  in  oatmeal.  In  rice  countries  it  has  often  been 
noticed,  that  the  natives  devour  what  to  us  appear  enormous 
quantities  of  the  grain,  and  this  circumstance  is  ascribed  tc 
the  small  proportion  it  contains  of  the  highly  nutritive  and 
necessary  gluten.  Rice  contains  also  little  fat,  and  hence  it 
is  less  laxative  than  the  other  cereal  grains,  or  rather  it  pos- 
sesses something  of  a binding  quality.  It  has  recently  been 
observed  that,  when  substituted  for  potatoes  in  some  of  our 
workhouses — in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  the  potato — 


88 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


tills  grain  lias  after  a.  few  months  produced  scurvy.  This 
may  have  been  owing  as  much  to  the  effects  of  sudden 
change  of  diet  as  to  an  inherent  evil  property  in  the  grain 
itself.  Still  it  suggests,  as  many  other  facts  do,  the  utility 
and  wholesomeness  of  a mixed  food. 

6°.  Buckwheat  flour  is  about  as  nutritious  as  English 
wheaten  flour,  and  makes  excellent  cakes,  which,  when  eaten 
hot  with  maple  honey,  in  the  backwoods  of  America,  are 
really  delicious. 

7°.  Quinoa. — A variety  of  grain  scarcely  known  in  this 
Fig.  19.  country  is  the  quinoa  (fig.  19),  a small 

roundish  seed,  which  is  extensively  culti 
vated  and  consumed  on  the  high  table 
lands  of.  Chili  and  Peru.  There  are  two 
varieties  of  it — the  sweet  and  the  bitter — 
and  both  grow  at  elevations  rising  to 
13,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
where  both  rye  and  barley  refuse  to  ripen. 
It  is  still  the  principal  food  of  the  many 
thousands  of  people  who  occupy  these 
high  lands,  and,  before  the  introduction 
of  European  grains  by  the  Spaniards,  is 
said  to  have  formed  the  chief  nourishment 
of  the  Peruvian  nation.  It  is  very  nutri- 
tious, and  in  its  composition  approaches 
very  nearly  that  of  oatmeal.  Thus  the 
flour  or  meal  of  the  oat  and  of  the  quinoa 

Chenopodium  quinoa — . , . . •,  0 

The  Quinoa  plant,  consist  respectively  of — 

Scale,  1 inch  to  2 feet 


Water, 

Gluten, 

Fat, 

Starch,  &c., 


Oatmeal 

Quinoa  flour. 
(Voelckbb.) 

, 

• 14 

16 

. 

. 18 

19 

, ■ 

. 6 

5 

. 62 

60 

— 

— — 

100 

100 

GUINEA  CORN,  DHURRHA,  BEAN,  ETC.  8S 

A grain  so  nutritious  as  this  is  a very  precious  gift  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  elevated  regions  of  the  Andes.  Without 
it,  these  lofty  plains  could  only  be  runs  for  cattle,  like  tho 
summer  pastures  among  the  valleys  on  the  Alps. 

8°.  Guinea  Corn,  a small  seed,  used  to  some  extent 
in  the  West  Indies,  is  a little  less  nutritious  than  ordinary 
English  wheat. 

9°.  Dhurra  or  Dhoora  (fig.  20),  a small  kind  of  grain 
much  cultivated  and  extensively  con- 
sumed in  India,  Egypt,  and  the  inte- 
rior of  Africa,  is  quite  equal  in  nutri- 
tive value  to  the  average  of  our  Eng- 
lish wheats,  and  yields  a beautiful 
white  flour.  According  to  my  analysis, 
buckwheat  flour  contains  10J,  and 
dhurra  flour  1 1^  per  cent,  of  gluten. 

10°.  The  Bean,  the  Pea,  the  Lu- 
pin, the  Vetch,  the  Lentil,  and  other 
varieties  of  pulse,  contain,  as  a distin- 
guishing character  of  the  whole  class, 
a large  per-centage  of  gluten,  mixed 
with  a comparatively  small  per-centage 
of  fat.  On  an  average,  the  proportion 
of  gluten  is  about  twenty-four,  and  of 
fat  about  two  in  every  hundred.  The 
gluten  of  these  kinds  of  grain  resem- 
bles that  of  the  oat,  and  does  not, 
therefore,  fit  bean  or  pease  meal  for 
being  converted  into  a spongy  bread. 

The  large  proportion  in  which  this  in-  Sorghum vulgare-TheDh^ 

, . . . . . . , . ra  plant,  or  Indian  Millet, 

gredient  is  present  m them,  however,  scale,  l inch  to  2 feet 

renders  all  kinds  of  pulse  very  nutritious.  Eaten  alone, 

however,  the}^  have  a constipating  or  costive  quality ; but  a 

proper  admixture  of  them  with  other  kinds  of  food,  especially 


90 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


with  such  as  contain  a larger  proportion  of  oil  or  fat,  is 
found  to  give  both  strength  and  endurance  to  animals  which 
are  subjected  to  hard  labour.  It  is  in  this  way  that  a cer- 
tain quantity  of  beans  given  to  horses  among  their  oats,  is 
found  so  serviceable  in  this  country. 

It  is  because  also  of  the  same  large  per-centage  of  gluten 
that  the  chick  pea,  the  gram  of  the  East,  is  considered, 
when  roasted,  to  be  more  capable  of  sustaining  life,  weight 
for  weight,  than  any  other  kind  of  food  For  this  reason  it 
is  selected  by  travellers  about  to  cross  the  deserts,  where 
heavy  and  bulky  food  would  be  inconvenient. 

Of  all  these  varieties  of  grain  a kind  of  bread  is  made 
by  those  who  live  upon  them,  and  they  are  all  more  or  less 
used  in  this  form  for  human  food.  Only  two  of  them,  how- 
ever, I believe — wheat  and  rye — possess  the  property,  when 
mixed  with  yeast  or  leaven,  of  forming  a light  spongy  bread, 
which  cannot  be  kept  for  a time  without  becoming  unpala- 
table. And  of  the  two  varieties  of  bread  yielded  by  these 
grains,  that  made  from  wheat  is  the  more  dry  and  crumbly, 
Fis- 21*  the  more  fair  to  look  upon,  and  the 

more  agreeable  to  the  taste.  Hence 
the  universal  preference  which  ex- 
ists for  the  flour  of  wheat  and  for 
wheaten  bread  wherever  they  can 
easily  be  obtained. ' 


But  trees  also  share  with  corn- 
bread  to  a considerable  extent  in  the 
nutrition  of  the  human  race.  Among 
these, the  sago  palm,  the  Chilian  pine, 
the  banana  or  plantain,  and  the  date, 
the  fig  and  the  bread-fruit  tree,  are 
deserving  of  especial  notice. 

11°.  The  Sago  palm  ( Sagus 


Saffus  rumphii — The  Sago  Palm. 
Scale  1 inch  to  20  feet 


THE  SAGO  PALM. 


9! 


rumphii)  is  cultivated  in  many  places,  but  it  is  the  chief 
support  of  the  inhabitants  of  north-western  New  Guinea, 
and  of  parts  of  the  coast  of  Africa.  The  meal  is  extracted 
from  the  pith  by  rubbing  it  to  powder,  and  then  washing  it 
with  water  upon  a sieve.  It  is  baked  by  the  natives  into  a 
kind  of  bread  or  hard  cake  by  putting  it  for  a few  minutes 
into  a hot  mould.  The  exact  nutritive  value  of  this  meal 
has  not  been  chemically  ascertained.  It  has  been  stated, 
however,  that  2^  lb.  of  it  are  sufficient  to  serve  for  a day’s 


Fig.  22. 


Araucaria  inibricata— The  Chili  Pine. 

Scale,  1 inch  to  40  feet. 

a Kernel  of  seed,  the  natural  size — b Cone,  1 inch  to  10  inches. 

5 


92 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


sustenance  to  a healthy  full-grown  man.  sAnd  as  each  tree, 
when  cut  down  in  its  seventh  year,  yields  seven  hundred 
pounds  of  sago  meal,  it  has  been  calculated  that  a single 
acre  of  land  planted  with  three  hundred  trees — one-seventh 
to  be  cut  down  every  year — will  maintain  fourteen  men. 

12°.  But  the  Chilian  pine  (. Araucaria  inibricata ),  now 
known  among  us  for  its  beauty,  is  still  more  conspicuous 
as  a feeder  of  men.  In  our  British  woods  the  tiny  squirrel 
supports  its  life  during  the  winter  months  on  the  seeds  of 
the  larch,  the  pine,  and  the  Scotch  fir,  which  we  plant  for 
ornament  or  use.  But  on  the  slopes  of  the  Andes  of  Chili 
and  Patagonia  the  lofty  araucaria  extends  in  natural  forests, 
bearing  huge  cones  six  inches  in  diameter.  The  seeds  con- 
tained in  these  are  large,  and  supply  the  natives  with  a great 
part  of  their  usual  food.  “ The  fruit  of  one  large  tree  will 
maintain  eighteen  persons  for  a year ; ” and  this,  year  by 
year,  without  the  necessity  of  cutting  down  and  replanting, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  sago  palm. 

We  do  not  know  the  composition  of  pine  seeds,  but  they 
probably  do  not  differ  much  from  the  beech-nut,  the  chest- 
nut, and  the  acorn,  all  of  which  are  rich  in  gluten. 

13°.  The  Banana. — Of  some  fruits,  tales  nearly  as 
wonderful  are  told.  The  beautiful  banana,  for  example,  the 
ornament  of  country-houses  in  tropical  countries,  is  said  to 
yield  from  the  same  extent  of  ground  a larger  supply  of 
human  food  than  any  other  known  vegetable.  The  fruit  of 
a single  tree  sometimes  weighs  70  or  80  lb.,  but  averages 
from  30  to  40  lb. ; and,  according  to  Humboldt,  the  same 
space  of  a thousand  square  feet,  which  will  yield  only  462 
lb.  of  potatoes,  or  38  lb.  of  wheat,  will  produce  4000  lb.  of 
bananas,  and  in  a shorter  period  of  time  ! 

The  fruit,  however,  contains  seventy-three  per  cent,  of 
water.  Even  when  dried  and  converted  into  meal,  it  is  less 
uutritious  than  the  meal  of  any  of  the  varieties  of  grain 


THE  BANANA  TREE. 


93 


above  mentioned.  It  approaches  in  composition  most  near 
ly  to  rice,  and,  like  that  grain,  swells  out  the  stomachs  of 
the  negroes  who  feed  rig.  23. 

upon  it.  In  tropical 
countries  it  is  never- 
theless a most  valuable 
food,  and  is  so  exten- 
sively consumed  as  to 
take  the  place  of  our 
cereal  grains  as  the 
common  article  of  diet. 

About  lb.  of  the 
fruit,  or  2 lb.  of  the 
dry  meal,  with  £ lb.  of 
salt  meat  or  fish,  form, 
in  tropical  America, 
the  daily  allowance  for 
a labourer,  whether 
slave  or  free. 

The  unripe  fruit  is 
sometimes  used  as 
bread;  it  is  dried  in 
the  oven,  and  in  this 
state  is  eaten  in  the 
manner  of  bread.  When 
thus  dried,  it  may  be 
kept  for  a long  time 
without  spoiling,  and  is 
usually  carried  with  them  in  this  dry  state  by  the  natives 
when  they  are  proceeding  on  a long  journey. 

The  chemical  reason  why  the  unripe  fruit  is  chosen  for 
this  purpose,  is,  that  while  unripe  the  fruit  is  filled  with 
starch,  so  that  when  dried  it  has  a resemblance  to  bread 
both  in  taste  and  composition  As  the  fruit  ripens,  this 


Musa  sapientum — The  Banana  Tree. 
Scale,  1 inch  to  10  feet 
Fruit,  1 inch  to  5 inches. 


94 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


starch  changes  into  sugar,  and  the  fruit  becomes  sweet.  In 
this  state,  though  more  pleasant  to  eat  when  newly  pulled,  it 
is  less  fit  either  for  drying  or  for  preserving. 

14°.  The  Date. — Many  other 
fruits  are  more  nutritious,  weight 
for  weight,  than  the  banana, 
though  none  may  probably  be 
compared  with  it  as  an  abundant 
producer  of  food.  The  date,  for 
example,  “ the  bread  of  the  de- 
sert,” is  capable  of  supporting 
life,  and  of  sustaining  unaided  the 
strength  of  man,  for  an  indefinite 
period.  We  possess  no  chemical 
results  from  which  to  judge  of 
the  absolute  nutritive  quality  of 
this  fruit,  but  experience  proves 
that  it  must  be  very  consider- 
able. 

The  date  palm  [Phoenix  dacty- 
lifer  a) , the  tree  which  yields  this 
fruit,  is  invaluable  amid  parched 
sands  and  arid  deserts.  Wher- 
ever a spring  of  water  appears 
amid  the  sandy  deserts  of  Africa 
(between  19°  and  35°  N.  lati- 
tude), this  graceful  palm  yields  at 
once  both  its  grateful  shelter  and 
[its  nourishing  fruit.  Where  all 
' other  crops  fail  from  drought,  the 
date  tree  still  flourishes.  In 
„ Egypt  and  Arabia  it  forms  a 

lyh(»nixdactylifera- TheDatePalm.  , . 

Scale,  i inch  to  20  feet.  large  portion  ot  the  general  food, 

i rmt,  i inch  to  2 inches.  and  among  the  oases  of  Fezzan 


THE  FIG  AND  THE  BREAD-FRUIT  TREE. 


95 


1 nineteen-twentieths  of  the  population  live  upon  it  for  nine 
months  in  the  year.” 

15°.  The  Fig. — The  fig,  like  the  date,  is  a native  of 
warm  climates.  Of  the  chemical  history  of  this  and  some 
other  fruits  we  know  more  than  we  do  as  yet  of  the  date. 
In  the  perfectly  dry  state  it  is  about  as  nutritious  as  rice.  In 
the  moist  state,  as  it  is  imported,  it  will  go  considerably  fur- 
ther in  feeding,  and  especially  in  fattening  or  adding  gener- 
ally to  the  weight  of  an  animal,  than  an  equal  weight  of 
wheaten  bread ! 

Thus,  figs  as  imported,  and  wheaten  bread  in  its  usual 
state,  consist  respectively  of — 


Water,. 

Figs. 

. 21 

Wheaten  bread. 

48 

Gluten,  . . 

5f 

Starch,  sugar,  &c.,  . 

. 

. 

. 

. 73 

46* 

100 

100 

The  fig,  it  will  be  seen  by  comparing  the  above  columns, 
contains  about  as  much  gluten  as  wheaten  bread,  while  in 
starch  and  sugar  it  is  twenty-seven  per  cent,  richer.  The 
perfectly  dry  gooseberry  is  about  as  nutritive  as  ordinary 
wheaten  flour. 

16°.  The  Bread-fruit  tree  ( Artocarpus  incisa)  is  re- 
markable for  its  large  and  brilliant  leaf,  and  for  the  general 
beauty  of  its  appearance,  in  which  respect  none  of  our  forest 
trees  can  compare  with  it.  But  it  is  most  remarkable  for 
the  abundant,  peculiar,  and  nutritious  fruit  it  yields.  This 
fruit  is  nearly  round,  and  attains  to  a considerable  size.  It 
grows  abundantly,  and  covers  the  tree  for  eight  or  nine 
months  without  interruption,  and  the  crops  ripen  in  success 
sion.  There  are  various  ways  of  cooking  it,  for  it  is  seldom 
relished  raw.  While  the  fruit  is  on  the  tree,  it  is  plucked 
before  it  is  perfectly  ripe,  while  the  rind  is  still  green,  but 


96 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


Fig.  25. 


tho  pith  snow-white,  and  of  a porous  and  mealy  texture. 
It  is  then  peeled,  wrapped  in  leaves,  and  baked  on  hot 

stones.  In  this  state  it 
tastes  like  wheaten  bread, 
sometimes  rather  sweeter. 
When  quite  ripe,  the 
starch,  as  in  the  banana, 
has  become  partly  changed 
into  sugar,  so  that  the 
pith  is  pulpy  and  of  a yel- 
low colour,  and  can  be 
eaten  uncooked,  but  it  has 
still  a disagreeable  flavour. 
To  serve  for  food  during 
the  three  months  when 
the  tree  ceases  to  bear, 
the  unripe  fruits,  after 
being  peeled,  are  laid  in 
a paved  pit  and  covered 
with  leaves  and  stones ; 
they  there  ferment  and 
become  sour,  and  form  a 
kind  of  paste,  which  tastes 
like  black  Westphalian 
bread  when  not  thoroughly 
baked.  The  quantity  required  for  daily  use  is  taken  from 
the  pit,  made  into  lumps  about  the  s-ize  of  the  fist,  rolled 
m leaves,  and  baked  on  stones  as  before.  These  lumps 
of  bread  keep  for  weeks,  and  are  a very  good  provision  in 
journeys. 

The  crops  of  this  fruit  are  so  abundant  that  three  trees 
are  sufficient  to  maintain  a man  for  eight  months.  It  is 
more  productive,  therefore,  even  than  the  banana  or  the 
sago  tree.  “ Whoever,”  says  Captain  Cook,  “ has  planted 


Ai'tocarpm  incisa — The  Bread-fruit  Tree. 

Scale,  1 inch  to*  40  feet. 

Leaf  and  fruit,  1 inch  to  a foot  and  a half. 


THE  BREAD-FRUIT. 


97 


ten  bread-fruit  trees,  has  fulfilled  his  duty  to  his  own  and 
succeeding  generations  as  completely  and  amply  as  an  in- 
habitant of  our  rude  clime  who,  throughout  his  whole  life, 
has  ploughed  during  the  rigour  of  winter,  reaped  in  the 
heat  of  summer,  and  not  only  provided  his  present  house 
hold  with  bread,  but  painfully  saved  some  money  for  his 
children.” 

On  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  on  the 
island  groups  of  the  South  Sea,  this  tree  is  found.  The 
fruit  is  best,  however,  on  the  Friendly  and  Marquesas 
Islands.  It  has  never  been  observed  wild,  but  the  whole 
species  has  passed  into  a cultivated  state,  and  it  is  therefore 
probable,  says  Meyen,  “ that  man  settled  wherever  he  found 
a bread-fruit  tree.  Even  yet  the  favourite  situation  of  the 
fragile  Indian  huts  is  under  its  shady  branches.”  * 

The  chemical  composition  of  this  fruit  has  never  been 
determined.  We  know  by  its  properties  that,  while  unripe, 
it  contains  much  starch,  which  during  the  ripening  is  partly 
changed  into  sugar ; but  how  much  gluten  or  oily  matter,  or 
even  of  water,  is  present  in  it,  has  not,  so  far  as  I am 
aware,  been  hitherto  experimentally  ascertained. 

The  quantity  of  water  they  contain  is  a character  of 
fruits  which  is  very  important.  By  this  they  are  distin- 
guished in  a remarkable  manner  from  the  different  varieties 
of  grain.  Thus  the  fruit  of  the 

Plantains  contains  . 73  per  cent,  of  water. 

Plums,  and  other  fleshy  fruits,  75  „ „ 

Apples,  gooseberries,  &c.,  80  „ „ 

The  consequence  of  this  composition  is,  that  in  fruits  all 
the  nutritive  matter  is  diluted  with  a large  quantity  of  water, 
and  in  this  state  experience  has  shown  that  all  nutritive  sub- 
stances are  more  grateful  to  the  healthy  stomach  and  more 
easily  digested.  It  is  for  this  reason  that,  in  prepariog  our 


* Meyen ’s  Geography  of  Plants  (Ray  Soc;ety),  p.  321. 


98 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


dry  grains  for  food,  we  almost  invariably  imitate  this  prepa* 
ratory  process  of  nature.  Even  in  baking  our  bread,  as  we 
have  seen  above,  the  result  of  our  operations  is  that  we  con- 
vert it  into  a light  and  spongy  mass  containing  nearly  half 
its  weight  of  water.  And  yet  we  talk  of  this  as  dry  bread> 
and  rarely  eat  it  without  some  accompanying  fluid. 

The  Roots  and  Tubers  we  use  as  food  occur  naturally 
m the  same  watery  condition  as  fruits  do.  The  potato,  the 
carrot,  and  the  turnip,  for  example,  contain  respectively  in  a 
hundred  pounds — 

Water.  Dry  food. 

The  potato, 75  25 

44  carrot,  • 83  17 

44  turnip,  . . . , . 90  10 

The  gourd  tribe  are  still  mort>  remarkable  for  the  quan- 
tity of  water  they  contain.  The  water  melon,  for  example, 
contains  ninety-four  per  cent.,  and  the  cucumber  ninety-seven 
per  cent,  of  water ! No  wonder  that  Jonah’s  gourd  could 
spring  up  in  a night — that  this  tribe  of  plants  should  be  so 
much  esteemed  in  hot  climates,  where  thirst  rages — or  that 
old  Mehemet  Ali  should  have  been  able  to  eat  up  an  entire 
forty  pound  melon  after  the  substantials  of  his  dinner  were 
disposed  of ! 

17°.  The  Turnip  ajd  Carrot. — The  dry  substance  of 
the  roots  and  green  vegetables  we  use  as  food  resembles  that 
of  seeds  and  fruits  in  general  composition.  The  dried  meal 
of  the  turnip  and  carrot,  for  example,  contains  gluten  asso- 
ciated with  starch  and  sugar,  and  is  very  nutritious.  That 
of  the  turnip  is  quite  equal  in  this  respect  to  Indian-corn 
meal,  being  only  deficient  in  fat.  Hence  a little  oily  food 
should  be  always  used  along  with  a turnip  diet.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  manufacture  a palatable  meal  from  dried 
turnips,  but  the  disagreeable  taste  of  the  root  so  clings  to 


THE  TOTATO. 


99 


the  meal  as  hitherto  to  have  rendered  it  unsuited  for  human 
consumption. 

18°.  The  Potato  is  more  important  as  a variety  of  hu- 
man food  than  any  other  root  we  cultivate,  and  is  remark- 
able for  being  grown  over  a greater  range  of  latitude  than 
any  other  cultivated  plant.  The  dry  substance  which  it  con- 
tains— the  potato  meal,  that  is — is  unsuited  for  being  made 
into  bread  alone,  though  it  is  used  to  some  extent,  as  an 
admixture  with  wheaten  flour,  and  is  said  in  most  cases  to 
improve  the  bread  in  lightness  and  general  appearance. 
The  dried  potato  is  less  nutritive,  weight  for  weight,  in  the 
sense  of  supporting  the  strength,  and  enabling  a man  to 
undergo  fatigue,  than  any  other  extensively-used  vegetable 
food,  of  which  the  composition  is  known,  with  the  exception 
only  of  rice  and  of  the  plantain.  It  approaches  nearest, 
indeed,  to  rice,  though  it  is  somewhat  superior  to  that  grain. 
Thus,  the  dry  substance  of  these  three  forms  of  food  consists 
of— 


Eice. 

Potato. 

Plantain. 

Gluten, 

7* 

8 

5* 

Starch,  &c., 

. . 92* 

92 

94* 

100 

100 

100 

There  is,  therefore,  a remarkable  similarity  among  these 
three  kinds  of  food,  in  so  far  as  they  all  differ  from  our 
cereal  and  other  grains  and  roots,  in  containing  a smaller 
proportion  of  the  ingredient  represented  by  the  gluten  of 
wheat.  And  in  the  use  of  them  all,  it  is  remarkable  that  a 
chemical  or  physiological  likeness  is  indicated  by  the  ob- 
servation that  the  tribes  of  people  who  live  exclusively  or 
even  chiefly  on  any  of  these  three  vegetable  productions,  are 
distinguished  by  the  size  and  prominence  of  their  stomachs  ! 
The  Hindoo  who  lives  on  rice,  the  negro  who  lives  on  the 
plantain,  and  the  Irishman  who  lives  exclusively  on  tho 


100 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


potato,  are  all  described  as  being  more  or  less  pot-bellied, 
This  peculiarity  is  to  be  ascribed  in  part,  I suppose,  to  the 
necessity  of  eating  a large  bulk  of  food,  in  order  to  be  able 
to  extract  from  it  a sufficient  amount  of  necessary  suste- 
nance. And  that  this  deformity  is  somewhat  less  conspicuous 
in  the  Irish  potato-eater  than  in  the  plantain-loving  negro, 
or  even  the  rice-devouring  Chinaman  and  Hindoo,  is  pro- 
bably to  be  ascribed  to  the  somewhat  larger  proportion  of 
the  gluten  ingredient  which  is  present  in  the  potato. 

One  remarkable  circumstance  in  which  the  three  kinds 
of  meal  just  spoken  of  differ  from  each  other,  is  in  the  size 
of  the  grains  of  starch  in  each.  As  seen  in  the  following 
figures — all  drawn  to  the  same  scale — the  starch  granules  in 
the  potato  are  very  large,  having  sometimes  a length  of  two 
or  three  thousandths  of  an  inch.  Those  of  the  plantain, 
though  considerably  larger  than  the  granules  of  wheat  or 
rye  (p.  81),  average  less  than  half  the  size  of  those  of  the 
potato ; while  those  of  rice  are  angular,  and  have  an  average 
diameter  of  less  than  one  five-thousandth  of  an  inch. 


Fig.  26. 


* Granules  of  Potato  _ b Granules  of  Plantain  c Granules  of  Rice 
Starch.  Starch.  Starch. 


Whether  the  peculiarities  above  shown  influence  in  any 


THE  ONION. 


101 


way  the  nutritive  action  of  these  several  kinds  of  food,  has 
not  yet  been  specially  investigated. 

19°.  The  Onion  is  worthy  of  notice  as  an  extensive 
article  of  consumption  in  this  country.  It  is  largely  culti 
vated  at  home,  and  is  imported,  to  the  extent  of  seven  oi 
eight  hundred  tons  a-year,  from  Spain  and  Portugal.  But 
it  rises  in  importance  when  we  consider  that  in  these  latter 
countries  it  forms  one  of  the  common  and  universal  supports 
of  life.  It  is  interesting,  therefore,  to  know  that  in  addition 
to  the  peculiar  flavour  which  first  recommends  it,  the  onion 
is  remarkably  nutritious.  According  to  my  analyses,  the 
dried  onion  root  contains  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  per  cent 
of  gluten.  It  ranks  in  this  respect  with  the  nutritious  pea 
and  the  gram  of  the  East.  It  is  not  merely  as  a relish, 
therefore,  that  the  wayfaring  Spaniard  eats  his  onion  with 
his  humble  crust  of  bread,  as  he  sits  by  the  refreshing 
spring : it  is  because  experience  has  long  proved  that,  like 
the  cheese  of  the  English  laborer,  it  helps  to  sustain  his 
strength  also,  and  adds — beyond  what  its  bulk  would  sug- 
gest— to  the  amount  of  nourishment  which  his  simple  meal 
supplies. 

20°.  Among  roots  which  are  important  articles  of  diet 
in  more  limited  districts,  may  also  be  mentioned  the  tuber 
of  a lily  ( Lilium  pomjponium)  which  is  roasted  and  eaten  in 
Kamtschatka,  and  is  there  cultivated  as  we  do  the  potato. 
That  it  is  nutritious  is  certain,  but  with  its  exact  chemical 
composition  and  nutritive  value  we  are  as  yet  unacquainted. 

Leaves. — From  roots  we  turn  to  leaves,  which  form  no 
inconsiderable  proportion  of  the  daily  sustenance  of  Euro- 
pean nations.  The  greater  number  of  animals,  wild  as  well 
as  domestic,  live  upon  the  leaves  of  plants.  Our  oxen  feed 
upon  the  grasses ; and  even  the  huge  elephant  and  the  sloth 
find  their  nourishment  on  the  leaves  of  the  forests  in  which 


102 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


they  live.  Among  those  which  are  raised  for  human  food, 
the  cabbage  is  a regular  field  crop ; and  many  others  are 
cultivated  less  extensively  in  our  gardens. 

Leaves  are  generally  rich  in  gluten ; many  of  them,  how- 
ever, contain  other  substances  in  smaller  quantity  associated 
with  the  gluten,  which  are  unpleasant  to  the  taste,  or  act 
injuriously  upon  the  general  health,  and  therefore  render 
them  unfit  for  human  food.  Dried  tea-leaves,  for  example, 
contain  about  twenty- five  per  cent  of  gluten  ; and  therefore, 
if  they  could  be  eaten  with  relish,  and  digested  readily,  they 
vould  prove  as  strengthening  as  beans  or  peas. 

21°.  The  Cabbage  is  an  especially  nutritious  vegetable. 
The  dried  leaf  contains,  according  to  my  analyses,  from 
thirty  to  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  gluten,  and  is,  in  this  re- 
spect, therefore,  more  nutritious  than  any  other  vegetable 
food  which  is  consumed  to  a large  extent  by  men  and  ani- 
mals. I know,  indeed,  of  only  two  exceptions- — the  mush- 
room, which  in  its  dry  matter  contains  sometimes  as  much 
as  fifty-six  per  cent,  of  gluten — and  the  dried  cauliflower,  in 
which  the  gluten  occasionally  rises  as  high  as  sixty- four  per 
cent. 

The  cabbage  is  one  of  those  plants  from  the  leaves  of 
which,  by  boiling,  we  can  extract  the  greater  part  of  that 
which  is  disagreeable  to  the  taste,  and  thus  convert  it  into  a 
palatable  food,  without  sensibly  diminishing  its  nutritious 
quality.*  When  eaten  frequently,  however,  and  in  large 
quantity,  they  have,  in  common  with  nearly  all  kinds  of 
food  which  are  rich  in  gluten,  a costive  or  binding  tendency 
upon  the  human  constitution  ; hence  the  propriety  of  eating 
them  with  fat  and  oily  food.  Bacon  and  greens,  like  pork 
and  pease-pudding,  is  a conjunction  of  viands  which  does 
not  owe  its  popularity  either  to  old  habit  or  to  the  mere 

* I found,  for  example,  that  the  dried  matter  of  boiled  cabbage  still  contained 
•hirty-three  per  cent,  of  gluten. 


IRISH  KOL-CANNON. 


103 


taste  of  the  epicure.  It  is  in  reality  an  admixture  which 
constitutional  experience  has  prescribed  as  better  fitted  to 
the  after  comfort  of  the  alimentary  canal  of  every  healthy 
individual,  than  either  kind  of  food  eaten  alone. 

And  so  with  a dish  common  in  Ireland  under  the  name 
of  Kol-cannon.  The  potato,  as  we  have  seen,  is  poor  in 
gluten — the  cabbage  is  unusually  rich  in  this  ingredient ; 
mix  the  two,  and  you  approach  the  composition  of  wheaten 
bread.  Beat  the  potatoes  and  boiled  cabbage  together,  put 
in  a little  pork  fat,  salt,  and  pepper,  and  you  have  a kol 
cannon  which  has  all  the  good  qualities  of  the  best  Scotch 
oatmeal,  and  to  many  would  be  more  savoury  and  palatable. 
Take  a pot-bellied  potato-eater,  and  feed  him  on  this  dish, 
and  he  will  become  not  only  stronger  and  more  active,  but 
he  will  cease  to  carry  before  him  an  advertisement  of  the 
kind  of  food  he  lives  upon,  and  his  stomach  will  fall  to  the 
dimensions  of  the  same  organ  in  other  men. 

Such  are  the  principal  varieties  of  vegetable  food  which 
— partly  in  the  form  of  baked  bread,  and  partly  cooked  in 
other  ways — are  at  the  present  day  most  largely  employed 
in  the  feeding  of  the  human  race.  We  have  seen  in  all  of 
them — 

First , That  they  contain  a sensible  proportion  of  three 
important  constituents — gluten,  starch,  and  fat. 

Second , That  when  the  proportion  of  any  of  these  is 
too  small,  chemistry  indicates,  and  experience  suggests, 
that  an  additional  quantity  of  this  deficient  substance  should 
be  added  in  the  process  of  cooking,  or  preparatory  to  eating. 
Thus  we  consume  butter  with  our  bread,  and  mix  it  with  our 
pastry,  because  wheaten  flour  is  deficient  in  natural  fat ; or 
we  eat  cheese  or  onions  with  the  bread,  to  add  to  the  pro- 
portion of  gluten  it  naturally  contains.  So  we  eat  some- 
thing more  nutritive  along  with  our  rice  or  potatoes — we 


104 


THE  BREAD  WE  EAT. 


add  fat  to  our  cabbage — we  enrich  our  salad  with  vegetable 
oil — eat  our  cauliflowers  with  melted  butter — and  beat  up 
potatoes  and  cabbage  together  into  a nutritious  kol- cannon. 

Third — And  thirdly,  that  in  all  natural  varieties  of  vege- 
table food  which  are  generally  suitable  for  eating  without 
cooking,  a large  percentage  of  water  is  present.  In  prepar- 
ing food  in  our  kitchens  we  imitate  this  natural  condition. 
Even  in  converting  our  wheaten  flour  into  bread,  we,  as  an 
important  result  aimed  at,  mix  or  unite  it  with  a large  pro- 
portion of  water. 

All  the  kinds  of  food  by  which  the  lives  of  masses  of 
men  are  sustained  being  thus  constituted,  it  is  obvious  that 
those  vegetable  substances  which  consist  of  one  only  of  the 
constituents  of  wheaten  bread,  cannot  be  expected  to  prove 
permanently  nutritious ; and  experience  has  proved  this  to 
be  the  case.  The  oils  or  fats  alone  do  not  sustain  life,  neither 
does  starch  or  sugar  alone.  With  both  of  these  classes  of  sub- 
stances, as  we  have  seen,  a certain  proportion  of  gluten  is 
associated  in  all  our  grains,  fruits,  and  nutritive  roots. 

Hence  arrow-root,  which  is  only  a variety  of  starch,  can- 
not give  strength  without  an  admixture  of  gluten  in  some 
form  or  other.  To  condemn  a prisoner  to  be  fed  on  arrow- 
root  alone,  would  be  to  put  him  to  certain  death  by  a linger- 
ing, torturing  starvation.  The  same  is  true,  to  a less  ex- 
tent, of  tapioca,  and  of  most  varieties  of  sago,*  all  of  which 
consist  of  starch,  with  only  a small  and  variable  admixture 
of  gluten.  Even  gluten,  when  given  alone  to  dogs,  has  not 
kept  them  alive  beyond  a few  weeks  ; so  that  no  vegetable 
production,  it  may  be  said,  and  no  kind  of  artificially  pre- 


* The  pith  of  the  sago  palm,  as  it  is  made  into  bread  by  the  natives  of  New  Guinea, 
probably  contains  a sufficient  proportion  of  gluten  to  sustain  life  ; but  this  is  in  a 
great  measure  washed  out  in  manufacturing  the  sago  of  commerce.  Tapioca,  as  it 
is  imported  and  consumed  in  this  country,  contains,  I find,  about  three  per  cent  of 
gluten. 


INFLUENCE  OF  DIET. 


105 


pared  food,  will  support  life,  in  which  starch  and  gluten  at 
least  are  not  united.  If  they  contain  at  the  same  time  a 
certain  proportion  of  fat,  they  will  admit  of  more  easy  diges- 
tion, and  of  a more  ready  application  in  the  stomach  to  the 
purposes  of  nutrition ; and  if  they  are  either  naturally  per- 
meated with  a large  quantity  of  water,  or  are  transfused  with 
it  by  artificial  means,  they  will  undergo  a more  complete  and 
easy  dissolution  in  the  alimentary  canal,  and  will  produce 
the  greatest  possible  effect  in  ministering  to  the  wants  of 
animal  life. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  very  generally  adjust- 
ments of  this  kind  have  been  made  to  the  wants  of  animals, 
in  the  natural  composition  of  the  eatable  parts  of  plants. 
But  it  is  still  more  interesting  to  observe  how  experience 
alone  has  almost  everywhere  led  men  to  a rude  adjustment, 
in  kind  and  quantity,  of  the  forms  of  nutritive  matter  which 
are  essential  to  the  supply  of  their  animal  wants  under  the 
circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed.  And  the  absolute 
necessity  of  such  adjustment  is  proved  by  all  physiological 
history.  For  when,  through  force  of  circumstances,  or  through 
distorted  taste,  the  natural  instinct  for  such  adjustment  can- 
not be  gratified,  or  is  foolishly  thwarted,  the  health  is  en- 
dangered, the  constitution  gradually  altered,  the  tempera- 
ment modified,  life  shortened,  families  extinguished,  and 
whole  races  of  men  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Such, 
looked  at  in  their  final  effects,  are  the  influences  of  the  kind 
of  food  in  which  individuals  indulge,  or  by  which  nations 
are  supported. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 

flic  fibrin  and  water  of  beef. — Composition  of  beef  compared  'with  that  of  wheaten 
bread  and  wheaten  flour. — Striking  differences. — Dried  flesh  compared  with  dried 
oat-cake. — More  fat  in  domesticated  animals  and  such  as  are  fed  for  the  butcher.— 
Composition  of  fish. — Eichness  of  the  salmon  and  the  eel. — Less  fat  in  fowls. — 
Eating  butter  with  fish. — Composition  of  the  egg. — Albumen  or  white  ; its  pro- 
perties and  relations  to  gluten  and  fibrin. — Oil  in  the  yolk,  and  in  the  dried  egg.— 
Composition  of  milk. — Milk  allied  both  to  animal  and  vegetable  forms  of  food.— 
Milk  a model  food. — Importance  of  a mixed  food,  containing  much  liquid. — Ad- 
justment of  the  several  ingredients  of  food  in  cooking. — Qualities  of  different  kindr 
of  cheese. — Composition  of  new  and  skimmed  milk  cheeses. — Comparison  with 
milk.— Cheese  as  a digester. — Solvent  power  of  decayed  cheese. — Customary  prac- 
tices in  cooking. — Qualities  of  different  kinds  of  animal  food. — Loss  of  beef  ana 
mutton  in  cooking. — Effects  of  heat  upon  meat. — Constituents  of  the  juice  of  meat. 
— Kreatine. — Effects  of  salt  upon  meat. — Loss  of  nutritive  value  in  salting. — How 
to  boil  meat  and  make  meat  soup. — Animal  fats ; their  analogy  to  vegetable  fats. — 
The  solid  fat  of  beef,  mutton,  and  palm-oil. — Composition  of  human  fat,  goose  flit, 
butter,  and  the  oil  of  the  egg. — The  liquid  part  of  animal  fat — Identity  of  anima* 
and  vegetable  food  as  regards  the  mineral  matters  they  respectively  contain. 

Beef  and  bread  are  the  staples  of  English  life ; and  as  the 
study  of  wheaten  bread  in  the  preceding  chapter  gave  us  the 
key  to  the  composition  and  nutritive  qualities  of  all  other 
vegetable  substances,  so  an  examination  of  beef  will  help  us 
to  a clear  knowledge  of  all  other  kinds  of  animal  food. 


THE  FIBRE  OF  LEAN  BEEF. 


10? 


1°.  Flesh.  If  a piece  of  fresh  beef  be  dried  in  the  hot 
sunshine,  or  in  a basin,  oyer  boiling  water,  it  will  shrink, 
dry  up,  diminish  in  bulk,  and  lose  so  much  water,  that  four 
pounds  of  fresh,  newly-cut  beef  will  leave  only  one  pound  of 
dried  flesh. 

Again,  if  we  take  a piece  of  lean  beef  and  wash  it  in  se- 
parate portions  of  clean  water,  its  colour  will  gradually 
disappear.  The  blood  it  contains  will  be  washed  out,  and  a 
white  mass  of  fibrous  tissue  will  remain.  If  this  be  put  into 
a bottle  with  alcohol  or  ether,  a variable  proportion  of  fat 
will  be  dissolved  out  of  it,  and  the  whole  fibrous  mass  will 
now  be  dryer  and  more  compact  than  before.  Through  this 
fibrous  mass  many  minute  vessels  are  scattered,  but  it  chiefly 
consists  of  a substance  to  which  chemists,  from  its  fibrous 
appearance,  give  the  name  of  fibrin . 

The  annexed  woodcut  (fig.  27)  shows  the  structure  of 
muscle,  as  seen  under  Fig  27 

the  microscope.  The 
cross  wrinkles  repre- 
sent the  way  in  which 
the  fibres  contract  in 
the  living  animal. 

Of  this  fibrin  the 
lean  part  of  the  mus- 
cles of  all  animals  The  fibres  of  lean  muscle,  showing  how  they  are 
flAnolDfo  . .*  f : « disposed  or  arranged,— the  particles  of  which  they  are 
cnieny  consists  , it  IS  composed,  and  how  they  shrink  or  contract.^ 

therefore  the  principal 

constituent  of  animal  flesh.  It  resembles  the  gluten  of 
plants  very  closely  in  composition  and  properties — insomuch 
that,  in  a general  comparison  of  animal  with  vegetable  food, 
we  may  consider  them  for  the  present  as  absolutely  iden- 
tical. 

Thus  we  have  separated  our  beef — besides  the  small 


108 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


quantity  of  blood  and  other  matters  washed  out  of  it  by  tho 
water — into  three  substances,  water,  fibrin,  and  fat.  Its 
composition,  as  compared  with  that  of  wheaten  bread  and 
wheaten  flour,  it  represented  as  follows  : — 

Lean  beef.  Wheaten  bread.  Wheaten  flour. 


Water  (and  blood),  . 

78 

45 

16 

Fibrin  or  gluten, 

19 

6 

10 

Fat, 

3 

1 

2 

Starch,  &c., 

. 

48 

72 

100 

100 

100 

Lean  beef,  therefore,  agrees  with  wheaten  flour  and 
bread,  in  containing  water  and  fat — only  in  beef  the  water 
is  as  great  as  it  is  in  the  potato  or  the  plantain.  It  agrees 
with  them  also  in  containing  a substance  (fibrin)  which  rep- 
resents in  the  animal  the  gluten  of  the  plant.  The  main 
difference  between  beef  and  bread  are  first , that  the  flesh 
does  not  contain  a particle  of  starch,  which  is  so  large  an 
ingredient  in  plants  ; and,  second , that  the  proportion  of 
fibrin  in  ordinary  flesh  is  about  three  times  as  great  as  in 
ordinary  wheaten  bread.  Or  a pound  of  beef-steak  is  as 
nutritive  as  three  pounds  of  wheaten  bread,  in  so  far  as  the 
nutritive  value  of  food  depends  upon  this  one  ingredient. 
In  the  dry  matter  of  flesh,  also,  the  proportion  of  fibrin  is 
greater  than  that  of  gluten  in  any  known  vegetable  food,  and 
very  much  greater  than  in  dried  bread  made  from  any  of  our 
cultivated  grains. 

This  latter  fact  will  become  more  apparent  if  we  com- 
pare perfectly  dry  flesh  with  perfectly  dry  oat-cake — oatmeal 
being  the  richest  of  our  common  kinds  of  meal,  both  in  glu» 
ten  and  in  fat. 


Dried  flesh. 

Fibrin  or  gluten,  . . * • 84 

Fat,  7 

Starch,  

Blood  and  Salts,  ....  9 


Dried  oat-cako. 
21 
7 
70 
2 


100 


100 


/ 

PROPORTIONS  OF  FAT  IN  DOMESEIC  ANIMALS. 


109 


Here  we  have  the  two  differences  between  the  lean  flesh  of 
animals  and  the  most  nutritive  of  our  grains  presented  in  a 
very  striking  light.  The  animal  food  contains  four  times  as 
much  of  what  for  the  moment  we  may  call  gluten ; but  it  is 
wholly  deficient  in  the  other  main  ingredient  of  vegetables — 
the  starch — which  in  the  dried  oatmeal  forms  seven-tenths  of 
the  whole  weight. 

The  flesh  of  wild  animals  is  represented  very  nearly  by 
the  lean  beef  of  which  the  composition  is  given  above. 
Wild  animals  generally  contain  little  fat.  But  it  is  not  so 
with  our  domesticated  animals,  and  especially  such  as  are 
reared  for  food.  They  all  contain  much  fat,  either  collected 
by  itself  in  various  parts  of  the  body  (the  suet  or  tallow),  or 
intermingled  with  the  muscular  fibre,  as  in  the  highly -prized 
marbled  beef  in  which  the  English  epicure  delights.  In  the 
boiling-houses  at  Port  Philip,  a small  merino  sheep  of  55  lb. 
weight  gives  20  lb.  of  tallow,  which  is  nearly  two-fifths  of 
the  whole.  In  heavier  sheep  the  proportion  of  fat  increases, 
four-fifths  of  all  the  weight  above  55  lb.  being  tallow.  In 
beef  and  mutton,  such  as  is  met  with  in  our  markets,  from  a 
third  to  a fourth  of  the  whole  dead  weight  generally  consists 
of  fat. 

Supposing  that,  as  it  comes  to  the  table,  one-fourth  of 
the  weight  of  the  butcher-meat  we  consume  consists  of  fat, 
then  the  nutriment  contained  in  100  lb.  of  it,  made  quite 
dry,  will  be  represented  by — 

Fibrin, 63  lb. 

Fat, SO  „ 

Salts  and  blood,  ........  7 „ 

100 

This  fat  to  a certain  extent  represents  and  replaces  the 
starch  of  vegetable  food. 

Fowls  contain  less  fat  than  butcher-meat;  though,  when 
crammed  and  fed  upon  food  rich  in  fat,  the  capon  and  the 


110 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


ortolan,  and  the  diseased  livers  of  the  goose,  become  as  rich 
as  the  fattest  beef  or  mutton. 

The  composition  of  other  kinds  of  flesh  which  we  eat  as 
food  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  beef.  Yeal  and  venison 
contain  less  fat,  while  pork  contains  more.  Each  variety 
also  possesses  a peculiar  flavour  and  a faint  odour,  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  species,  and  sometimes  of  the  variety  of 
the  animal.  In  some  cases,  as  with  our  mountain  mutton, 
this  peculiar  flavour  is  a high  recommendation;  in  others, 
as  with  the  sheep  of  the  Low  Countries,  and  with  the  goat, 
it  renders  them  to  many  altogether  unpalatable. 

2°.  Fish  in  general  is  less  rich  in  fat  than  the  flesh  meat 
in  our  markets,  and  consequently  contains  more  fibrin. 
Some  of  our  common  varieties  of  fish,  when  perfectly  dried, 
consist  of — 


Skate, 

Fibrin. 

. 97 

Fat,  &c. 
3 

Haddock, 

92 

8 

Herring, 

. 92 

8 

Salmon, 

78 

22 

Eel, 

. 44 

56 

These  numbers,  of  course,  are  liable  to  variation — the 
herring  especially  being  very  much  fatter  at  some  seasons 
and  on  some  coasts  than  on  others.  We  see,  however,  that 
salmon  is  justly  considered  a rich  fish,  since  it  contains  three 
times  as  much  fat  as  the  haddock.  The  epicure  has  also  a 
substantial  reason  for  his  attachment  to  the  eel,  since  it  con- 
tains a considerably  greater  weight  of  fat  than  it  does  of 
muscular  fibre. 

It  appears,  therefore — 

First,  That  the  dried  flesh  of  all  the  animals  that  we 
most  usually  consume  for  food,  consists  essentially  of 
fibrin. 

Second,  That  the  proportion  of  fat  is  variable,  and  that 


THE  EGG. 


Ill 


those  varieties  of  animal  food  are  most  esteemed  for  human 
food  in  which  a considerable  proportion  of  fat  is  present. 
Hence, 

Third , Where  the  proportion  of  fat  is  naturally  small, 
we  endeavour  to  increase  it  by  art ; as  in  feeding  the  capon. 
Or  we  eat  along  with  those  varieties  in  which  it  is  small 
some  other  food  richer  in  fat.  Thus,  we  eat  bacon  with 
veal,  with  liver,  and  with  fowl ; or  we  capon  the  latter,  and 
thus  increase  its  natural  fat.  We  use  melted  butter  with 
our  white  fish,  or  we  fry  them  with  fat ; while  the  herring, 
the  salmon  and  the  eel,  are  usually  both  dressed  and  eaten 
in  their  own  oil.  If  the  reader  will  take  the  trouble  of  con- 
sulting any  popular  cookery-book,  he  will  find  that  sausage, 
and  other  rich  mixed  meats,  are  made  in  general  with  one 
part  of  fat  and  two  of  lean — the  proportion  in  which  they 
exist  in  a piece  of  good  marbled  beef ! Art  thus  uncon- 
sciously again  imitating  nature. 

3°.  The  Egg. — Akin  to  flesh  and  fish  is  another  form 
of  animal  food — the  egg.  The  egg  of  the  domestic  hen  is 
that  which  is  most  commonly  known,  and  most  extensively 
used  as  food.  It  consists  of  three  principal  parts — the  shell, 
the  white,  and  the  yolk.  The  shell  is  composed  of  carbo- 
nate of  lime  or  hard  chalk,  and  it  is  intended  chiefly  as  a 
protection  to  the  inner  part.  It  is  penetrated,  however,  by 
numerous  minute  holes  or  pores,  through  which  the  air  is 
capable  of  passing,  and  by  means  of  which  it  is  conveyed  to 
the  young  bird  during  the  process  of  hatching.*  It  forms 
rather  more  than  a tenth  part  of  the  weight  of  the  egg,  the 
white  forms  six-tenths,  and  the  yolk  three-tenths.  A com- 


* Through  these  pores,  also,  the  air  enters,  by  the  agency  of  which  eggs,  when 
kept,  soon  become  rotten.  If  those  pores  are  filled  up  by  rubbing  the  new-laid  egg 
over  with  fat,  or  in  any  similar  way,  it  will  keep  fresh  for  an  indefinite  period.  II 
is  then  very  nearly  in  the  condition  of  the  hermetically  sealed  meats  now  prepared 
for  use  in  long  voyages. 


112 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


mon-sized  hen’s  egg  weighs  about  a thousand  grains,  and 
consists,  therefore,  of  about — 

White, 600  grains. 

Yolk,  . ....  300  “ 

Shell, 100 

1000  grains. 

The  white  of  the  egg  is  so  called,  because,  when  heated, 
it  coagulates  into  a white  solid  substance,  which  is  insoluble 
in  water,  and  almost  free  from  taste.  It  is  known  to  chem- 
ists by  the  name  of  albumen  * Though  different  in  appear- 
ance and  in  sensible  properties  from  fibrin  and  gluten,  it 
has  a very  close  chemical  relation  to  these  substances,  and 
serves  nearly  the  same  purpose  in  the  feeding  of  animals.  We 
may  for  the  present,  therefore,  consider  all  the  three — gluten, 
fibrin,  and  albumen — as,  in  a nutritive  sense,  absolutely 
identical. 

The  yolk  is  of  a yellow  colour.  It  consists,  in  part,  of 
a variety  of  albumen,  and,  therefore,  like  the  white,  coagu- 
lates, though  in  a less  degree,  when  the  egg  is  heated.  But 
if  the  dry  hard  yolk  be  crushed,  and  digested  in  alcohol, 
or  in  ether,  it  becomes  colourless,  while  the  spirit  extracts, 
and  dissolves  a bright  yellow  oil.  This  oil  forms  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  weight  of  the  yolk,  in  its  perfectly  dry  state. 
Thus  the  yolk,  like  flesh  and  fish,  consists  of  fat  intermixed 
with  a substance  which  has  a close  resemblance  to  the  gluten 
of  plants. 

The  egg  contains,  besides,  a large  per-centage  of  water, 
amounting,  as  in  fresh  butcher-meat,  to  nearly  three-fourths 
of  its  whole  weight.  Thus  the  egg,  when  deprived  of  its 
shell,  consists,  in  the  natural  and  in  the  dried  states,  respec- 
tively of — 


* See  note,  p.  81. 


MILK 


113 


Natural  state. 

Dried  at  the 
heat  of  boil- 
ing water. 

Whole  egg. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

Water, 

6(56 

74 



Albumen,  ^ 

127 

14 

54§ 

Fat, 

94 

10* 

40 

Ash  (when  burned), 

13 

5* 

900 

100 

100 

ll  contains  also  a trace  of  milk-sugar. 

The  egg,  therefore,  as  a whole,  is  richer  in  fat  than  fat 
beef.  It  is  equalled,  in  this  respect,  among  common  kinds 
of  food,  only  by  pork  and  by  eels.  It  is  of  interest  to  re- 
mark, however,  that  the  white  of  the  egg  is  entirely  free 
from  fat,  and  that  albumen  is  a very  constipating  variety  of 
animal  food,  so  that  it  requires  much  fat  to  be  eaten  along 
with  it,  when  consumed  in  any  quantity,  in  order  that  this 
quality  may  be  counteracted.  It  is,  no  doubt,  because  ex- 
perience has  long  ago  proved  this  in  the  stomachs  of  the 
people,  that  “ eggs  and  bacon  ” have  been  a popular  dish 
among  Gentile  nations  from  time  immemorial. 

4°.  Milk. — Another  nutritious  form  of  animal  food  is 
the  well-known  fluid  milk.  This,  as  we  should  expect,  con- 
tains more  water  than  beef  or  the  egg  ; yet,  contrary  to  what 
we  might  expect,  not  more  than  the  turnip,  and  much  less 
than  the  melon. 

Milk,  by  one  well-known  process,  yields  butter  or  fat, 
and  by  another  curd  or  cheese.  The  curd,  to  which  chem- 
ists give  the  name  of  casein,  from  its  forming  cheese,  resem- 
bles the  gluten,  fibrin,  and  albumen,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken,  and  is  classed  along  with  them  as  a nutritive  sub- 
stance. It  possesses  also,  weight  for  weight,  about  the 
same  value,  when  used  as  food,  and,  like  albumen,  is  dis- 
tinguished, when  eaten  alone,  for  a remarkably  constipating 
property. 


114 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


When  the  whey  of  milk,  from  which  the  curd  and  butter 
have  been  completely  separated,  is  evaporated  to  dryness,  a 
colourless  sweet  substance  is  obtained,  which  is  known  by 
the  name  of  sugar  of  milk.  When  dried  and  burned  in  the 
air,  milk  also  leaves  behind  a quantity  of  ash.  These  several 
ingredients  exist  in  cow?s  milk,  in  the  natural  and  in  the 
dried  states,  in  the  following  average  proportions  : — 

Evaporated 
Natural  state,  to  dryness. 


Water, 

. ' 

87 

— 

Curd,  or  casein, 

. 

4* 

34* 

Butter,  or  fat, 

• 

3 

23* 

Sugar  (of  milk), 

. 

4* 

37 

Ash  (nearly),  . 

• 

i 

100 

4* 

100 

Thus  milk  appears  to  partake  of  the  nature  of  both 
animal  and  vegetable  food.  It  contains  a large  proportion 
of  curd  and  butter,  which  represent  the  fibrin  and  fat  of  beef, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  a large  proportion  of  sugar,  which  rep- 
resents the  starch  of  wheaten  bread. 

Human  milk  very  closely  resembles  the  milk  of  the  cow. 
Its  average  composition  is  as  follows : — 

Water,  •••••••  88.91  or  89 

Curd  or  casein,  ......  8.92  — 4 

Butter  or  fat,  ......  2.67  — 2| 

Sugar  of  milk,  ......  4.36 — 4* 

Salt  uo?  ash,  ......  0.14  — 1-T 

100  1001-7 

The  principal  difference  is  in  the  proportion  of  saline 
matter,  which  in  human  milk  is  only  one-third  of  that  of 
cow’s  milk.* 

* The  milk  of  women  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years  of  age  contains  more  solid  con- 
stituents than  that  of  women  between  thirty  or  forty.  Women  with  dark  hair  also 
give  a richer  milk  than  women  with  light  hair.  In  acute  diseases  the  sugar  decreases 
one-fourth  and  the  curd  increases  one-fourth,  while  in  chronic  affections  the  butter 
increases  one-fourth,  and  the  casein  slightly  diminishes.  In  both  classes  of  diseases 
the  proportion  of  saline  matter  increases. 


A MIXED  FOOD  MOST  WHOLESOME. 


115 


Now,  as  the  natural  food  of  the  young  mammalian  ani- 
mal of  every  species  is  the  milk  of  its  mother,  that  milk 
may  be  looked  upon  as  a kind  of  model  food  for  the  species 
to  which  the  animal  belongs.  Woman’s  milk,  therefore,  is 
the  type  of  human  food,  and  after  its  form  and  composition 
all  other  kinds  of  food  should  be  adjusted,  especially  in  the 
case  of  persons  whose  condition  approaches  to  that  of  the 
child.  Hence  it  seems  reasonable  to  infer — 

First , That  our  food  ought  to  contain  a due  admixture 
of  vegetable  and  animal  food  substances,  in  which  the  pro- 
portions of  the  three  most  important  constituents,  fat,  starch 
or  sugar,  and  fibrin  or  gluten,  are  properly  adjusted. 

Second , That  the  food,  if  not  naturally  liquid,  should  be 
intimately  mixed  with  a large  quantity  of  liquid  before  it  is 
introduced  into  the  stomach.  This  lesson  we  have  already 
learned  from  the  study  of  various  natural  forms  of  vegetable 
food. 

The  attainment  of  these  two  ends,  in  such  a way  as  at 
the  same  time  to  please  the  eye  and  the  palate,  guides,  for 
the  most  part,  the  operations  of  the  cook  in  his  kitchen. 
They  ought  always  to  guide  the  operations  of  those  who  wish 
to  prepare  what  it  will  be  wholesome  for  the  majority  of  men 
to  eat. 

5°.  Cheese. — The  manufacture  of  cheese  of  different 
varieties,  and  the  qualities  which  these  varieties  severally 
possess,  are  illustrations  of  the  importance  of  a mixed  food. 

Cheese  is  eaten  for  two  very  different  purposes — Either 
as  a part  of  the  regular  food,  for  the  general  sustenance  of 
the  body,  or  as  a kind  of  condiment,  taken  in  small  quantity 
along  with  or  after  the  usual  fare  as  is  common  at  dinner- 
tables. 

In  the  making  of  cheese  many  different  varieties  are  ob- 
tained, according  as  the  proportion  of  cream  is  increased  or 

diminished.  When  it  is  made  from  cream  alone,  what  is 

6 


116 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


called  a cream  cheese  is  obtained,  which  must  be  used  when 
comparatively  fresh,  as  it  soon  becomes  rancid.  When  the 
cream  of  the  previous  night’s  milking  is  added  to  the  new 
milk  of  the  morning  a very  rich  cheese  is  made,  like  our 
English  Stilton  ; when  good  new  milk  only  is  employed,  rich 
cheeses  like  the  Cheddar  are  obtained ; when  an  eighth  or 
tenth  of  the  cream  is  removed,  highly  esteemed  cheeses,  like 
the  large-sized  (120  lb.)  Cheshires  are  made,  which  will  not 
hold  together  if  all  the  cream  be  left  in.  There  seems,  at 
first  sight,  to  be  no  connection  between  the  application  of 
bones  to  the  Cheshire  farmer’s  poor  grass-land  and  the  un- 
expected crumbling  of  the  Cheshire  dairymaid’s  cheese.  Yet 
the  connection  is  plain  enough.  The  bones  bring  up  richer 
g’-'ass ; this  gives  richer  milk ; and  this,  treated  in  the  old 
way,  a fatter,  and  therefore  more  crumbly  cheese.  When 
the  skimmed  milk  of  the  evening  is  added  to  the  new  milk 
of  the’  morning,  the  mixed  milk  yields  cheeses  like  the  single 
Glo’ster.  If  the  cream  be  once  removed  from  the  whole  of 
the  milk,  it  yields  common  skimmed-milk  cheese ; if  it  be 
twice  creamed,  it  gives  cheeses  like  some  of  the  poorer  sorts 
made  in  Friesland ; and  if  skimmed  for  three  or  four  days 
in  succession,  it  yields  the  hard  horny  cheeses  of  Suffolk,  lo- 
cally known  by  the  name  of  Suffolk  ba?ik)  which  often  re- 
quires an  axe  to  cut  it,  and  which  is  so  hard  “ that  pigs  grunt 
at  it,  dogs  bark  at  it,  but  neither  of  them  dare  bite  it.” 

Now,  in  the  making  of  cheese,  the  milk  is  first  curdled — 
sometimes  by  the  use  of  vinegar,  but  generally  by  means  of 
rennet.  The  curd  is  then  separated  from  the  whey,  in  which 
the  sugar  of  milk  remains  dissolved  ; after  this  it  is  carefully 
pressed  and  dried.  Were  there  no  cream  taken  off  the  milk, 
therefore,  the*  cheese  as  a food  would  differ  from  the  milk 
chiefly  in  containing  little  or  no  sugar.  But  when  more  or 
less  of  the  cream  is  removed  from  the  milk  employed,  the 
cheese  becomes  further  removed  from  milk  in  its  composi 


CHEDDAR  AND  SKIM-MILK  CHEESEb. 


117 


fcion,  and  less  fitted,  therefore,  to  serve  alone  as  a nutritious 
animal  diet.  The  following  numbers  represent  the  composi- 
tion of  a rich  Cheddar  cheese  when  two  years  old,  and  of  a 
common  one-year-old  skimmed-milk  cheese  made  in  Lanark 

phire. 


Cheddar. 

Skim  milk. 

Water,  • • • • 

. 86 

44 

Curd, 

. 29 

45 

Fat,  . . . 

. 30* 

6 

Ash, 

4* 

5 

100 

100 

Both  contain  a very  considerable  proportion  of  water, 
and  therefore  in  this  respect  they  are  not  unsuited  for  im- 
mediate consumption  as  food.  But  while  the  fat  in  one 
amounts  to  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  weight,  in  the  other 
it  only  reaches  to  six  per  cent. 

But  we  shall  have  a clearer  idea  of  the  value  of  these 
varieties  of  cheese  for  a general  diet,  by  comparing  their 
composition  in  a dried  state  with  those  of  milk,  beef,  and 
eggs,  also  in  a dried  state.  This  is  seen  in  the  following 
table : — 


Milk. 

Cheese. 

Beef. 

Eggs. 

Cheddar. 

Skim  milkj 

Casein  (curd), 

85 

45 

80 

1 89* 

55 

Fat  (butter), 

24 

48 

11 

7 

40 

Sugar,  .... 

37 

.... 

Mineral  matter, 

4 

*7 

*9 

4 

5 

) 

100 

100 

100 

100 

100 

* This  number  is  something  larger  than  that  given  in  page  108.  This  is  because 
the  weight  of  the  blood  (five  per  cent),  which  consists  chiefly  of  fibrin  and  albumen, 
Is  here  added  to  that  of  the  fibrin  of  the  beef  in  which  it  is  contained.  The  readei 
will  not  farget  that  casein,  fibrin,  and  albumen  are  all  nearly  identical  with  each  otliei 
and  with  the  gluten  of  plants. 


118 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


We  see  from  this  table  that  both  cheeses  are  free  from 
sugar.  Either  of  them,  therefore,  must  be  eaten  with  a quan- 
tity of  vegetable  food  which  may  supply  the  starch  or  su- 
gar required  to  make  it  equal  to  milk  as  a general  nourish- 
ment. Again,  the  Cheddar  cheese  contains  more  fat  even 
than  the  egg.  It  is  too  rich,  therefore,  to  be  used  as  an 
everyday  diet  by  the  generality  of  stomachs.  It  is  partly 
for  this,  and  partly  for  the  previous  reason,  that  “ cheese  and 
bread  ” are  almost  invariably  eaten  together. 

Then,  in  the  skim-milk  cheese,  we  have  only  eleven  of 
fat  mixed  with  eighty  of  the  very  constipating  curd.  Ex- 
perience has  shown  this  to  be  far  too  little,  and  therefore  but- 
ter or  fat  bacon,  as  well  as  bread,  must  be  consumed  along 
with  these  poorer  cheeses,  when  much  of  them  is  intended 
to  be  eaten  ; or  they  must  be  cooked,  in  made  dishes,  along 
with  some  other  variety  of  fat. 

It  is  with  a view  to  similar  adjustments  in  the  propor- 
tions of  the  several  necessary  ingredients  of  a nourishing 
food,  that  we  mix  eggs  with  sago,  tapioca,  and  rice  in  our 
puddings,  shred  the  oily  yolk  into  our  salad,  boil  rice  with 
milk,  and  eat  rich  cheese  with  our  maccaroni. 

But  cheese  is  often  eaten  also  as  a relish  or  condiment, 
only  in  small  quantities  at  a time.  It  is  chiefly  the  older 
and  stronger-tasted  varieties  that  are  so  used.  They  are 
generally  very  wholesome  and  digestible  when  taken  in  this 
way.  As  a digester , as  some  not  inappropriately  call  it, 
cheese — that  which  is  decayed  and  mouldy  being  preferred 
by  connoisseurs — is  often  eaten  after  dinner.  The  action 
which  experience  seems  to  have  proved  it  to  possess,  in  aid- 
ing the  digestion  of  what  has  previously  been  eaten,  is  both 
curious  and  interesting,  and  has  had  some  light  thrown  upon 
it  by  recent  chemical  research. 

When  the  curd  of  milk  is  exposed  to  the  air  in  a moist 
state  for  a few  days  at  a moderate  temperature,  it  begins 


CHEESE  AS  A DIGESTER. 


119 


gradually  to  decay,  to  emit  a disagreeable  odour,  and  to  fer- 
ment. When  in  this  state,  it  possesses  the  property,  in 
certain  circumstances,  of  inducing  a species  of  chemical 
change  and  fermentation  in  other  moist  substances  with 
which  it  is  mixed,  or  is  brought  into  contact.  It  acts  after 
the  same  manner  as  sour  leaven  does  when  mixed  with 
sweet  dough. 

Now,  old  and  partially  decayed  cheese  acts  in  a similai 
way  when  introduced  into  the  stomach.  It  causes  chemical 
changes  gradually  to  commence  among  the  particles  of  the 
food  which  has  previously  been  eaten,  and  thus  facilitates 
the  dissolution  which  necessarily  precedes  digestion.  It  is 
only  some  kinds  of  cheese,  however,  which  will  effect  this 
purpose.  Those  are  generally  considered  the  best  in  which 
some  kind  of  cheese  mould  has  established  itself.*  Hence 
the  mere  eating  of  a morsel  of  cheese  after  dinner  does  not 
necessarily  promote  digestion.  If  too  new  or  of  improper 
quality,  it  will  only  add  to  the  quantity  of  food  with  which 
the  stomach  is  probably  already  overloaded,  and  will  have 
to  await  its  turn  for  digestion  by  the  ordinary  processes. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  one  of  the  special  advantages 
possessed  by  the  varieties  of  flour  obtained  from  wheat  and 
rye,  that  in  the  hands  of  the  baker  they  form  light  and 
spongy  bread.  This  is  owing,  as  I have  explained,  to  a pe- 
culiarly tenacious  property  which  is  possessed  by  the  kinds 
of  gluten  contained  in  these  two  species  of  grain.  But  the 
same  property  is  possessed  to  some  extent  by  the  white  of 
the  egg.  It  has  a glairy  consistence,  which  enables  it,  when 
mixed  up  with  moistened  flour,  arrow-root,  sago,  &c.,  to  re- 
tain the  globules  of  air  or  of  steam  which  are  produced  with- 

v 

* It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that  such  kinds  of  cheese  mould,  and  ths 
flavour  and  digestive  quality  which  accompany  them,  may  be  propagated  even  in 
newer  cheeses  by  inoculation,— removing  a bit  of  the  new,  that  is  from  the  interior 
and  putting  in  a bit  of  the  old  in  its  place. 


120 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


in  it  by  fermentation  or  by  beat.  Thus,  like  the  gluten  of 
wheat,  it  enables  the  mixed  materials  to  swell  up  into  a 
porous  mass.  Hence  the  lightness  which  the  white  of  egg 
gives  to  puddings,  to  cakes,  and  even  to  wheaten  bread.  In 
a less  degree,  a similar  quality  resides  in  the  curd  of  milk, 
and  hence  one  cause  of  the  improvement  in  the  appearance 
of  bread  which  has  been  wholly  or  in  part  prepared  with 
milk. 

Before  leaving  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  may  be  useful 
to  exhibit  in  a tabular  form  the  composition  of  dried  beef, 
eggs,  and  milk,  compared  wTith  that  of  dried  wheaten  flour 
and  dried  oatmeal. 


Beef. 

Eggs. 

Milk. 

Fine 
wheat- 
en flour. 

Oat- 

meal. 

Fibrin,  casein,  albumen,  or  gluten, 

89 

. 55 

35 

12 

2i 

Fat, 

T 

40 

24 

2* 

7 

Starch  or  sugar, 

— 

— , 

37 

83.4 

70 

Ash  or  mineral  matter,  * 

4 

5 

4 

2' 

2 

100 

100 

ICO 

100 

100 

From  this  table  many  interesting  comparative  deductions 
may  be  drawn. 

6°.  Cooking  flesh  meat. — In  cooking  animal  food,  plain 
boiling,  roasting,  and  baking,  are  in  most  general  favour  in 
our  islands.  During  these  operations,  fresh  beef  and  mut- 
ton, when  moderately  fat,  lose  on  an  average  about — 

In  boiling.  In  baking.  In  roasting. 

4 lb.  of  beef  lose,  1 lb.  1 lb.  3 oz.  1 lb.  5 oz. 

4 lb.  of  mutton  lose,  14  oz.  1 lb.  4 oz.  1 lb.  6 oz. 

The  greater  loss  in  baking  and  roasting  arises  chiefly  from 
the  greater  quantity  of  water  which  is  evaporated,  and  of  fat 


COOKING  FLESH  MEAT. 


121 


which  is  melted  out  during  these  two  methods  of  cooking. 
Two  circumstances,  however,  to  which  it  has  not  hitherto 
been  necessary  to  advert,  have  much  influence  upon  the  suc- 
cessful result  of  these  and  some  other  modes  of  cooking. 

If  we  put  moist  flesh  meat  into  a press  and  squeeze  it,  a 
red  liquid  will  flow  out.  This  is  water  coloured  by  blood, 
and  holding  various  saline  and  other  substances  in  solution. 
Or  if,  after  being  cut  very  thin,  or  chopped  very  fine,  the 
flesh  be  put  into  a limited  quantity  of  clean  water,  the  juice 
of  the  meat  will  be  gradually  extracted,  and  by  subsequent 
pressure  will  be  more  completely  removed  from  it  than  when 
pressure  is  applied  to  it  in  the  natural  state,  and  without  any 
such  mincing  and  steeping.  The  removal  of  these  juices 
leaves  the  beef  or  mutton  nearly  tasteless. 

When  the  juice  of  the  meat  extracted  in  either  way  is 
heated  nearly  to  boiling,  it  thickens  or  becomes  muddy,  and 
flakes  of  whitish  matter  separate,  which  resemble  boiled  white 
of  egg.  They  are,  in  fact,  white  of  egg  or  albumen,  and  they 
show  that  the  juice  of  flesh  contains  a certain  quantity  of  this 
substance  in  the  same  liquid  and  soluble  state  in  which  it 
exists  in  the  unboiled  egg.  Now,  the  presence  of  this  albu- 
men in  the  juics  of  butcher  meat  is  of  much  importance  in 
connection  with  the  skilful  preparation  of  it  for  the  table. 

The  first  effect  of  the  application  of  a quick  heat  to  a 
piece  of  fresh  meat  is  to  cause  the  fibres  to  contract,  to 
squeeze  out  a little  of  the  juice,  and  to  a certain  extent  to 
close  up  the  pores  so  as  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  remain- 
der. The  second  is  to  coagulate  the  albumen  contained  in 
the  juice,  and  thus  effectually  and  completely  to  plug  up  the 
pores,  and  to  retain  within  the  meat  the  whole  of  the  internal 
juice.  Thereafter,  the  cooking  goes  on  through  the  agency 
of  the  natural  moisture  of  the  flesh.  Converted  into  vapour 
by  the  heat,  a kind  of  steaming  takes  place  within  the  piece 
of  meat,  so  that  whether  in  the  oven,  on  the  spit,  or  in  the 


122 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


midst  of  boiling  water,  it  is  in  reality,  when  skilfully  dcno 
cooked  by  its  own  steam. 

A well-cooked  piece  of  meat  should  be  full  of  its  own 
juice  or  natural  gravy.  In  roasting,  therefore,  it  should  be 
exposed  to  a quick  fire,  that  the  external  surface  may  bo 
made  to  contract  at  once,  and  the  albumen  to  coagulate,  be- 
fore the  juice  has  had  time  to  escape  from  within.  And  so 
in  boiling.  When  a piece  of  beef  or  mutton  is  plunged  into 
boiling  water,  the  outer  part  contracts,  the  albumen,  which 
is  near  the  surface,  coagulates,  and  the  internal  juice  is  pre- 
vented either  from  escaping  into  the  water  by  which  it  is 
surrounded,  or  from  being  diluted  and  weakened  by  the  ad- 
mission of  water  among  it.  When  cut  up,  therefore,  the 
meat  yields  much  gravy  and  is  rich  in  flavour.  Hence  a 
beef-steak  or  a mutton-chop  is  done  quickly,  and  over  a quick 
fire,  that  the  natural  juices  may  be  retained. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  meat  be  exposed  to  a slow  fire, 
its  pores  remain  open,  the  juice  continues  to  flow  from  with' 
in  as  it  is  dried  from  the  surface,  and  the  flesh  pines  and  be- 
comes dry,  hard,  and  unsavoury.  Or  if  it  be  put  into  cold 
or  tepid  water,  which  is  afterwards  gradually  brought  to  a 
boil,  much  of  the  albumen  is  extracted  before  it  coagulates, 
the  natural  juices  for  the  most  part  flow  out,  and  the  meat 
is  served  in  a nearly  tasteless  state.  Hence,  to  prepare  good 
boiled  meat,  it  should  be  put  at  once  into  water  already 
brought  to  a boil.  But  to  make  beef-tea,  mutton  broth,  or 
other  meat  soups,  the  flesh  should  be  put  into  the  cold  water, 
and  this  afterwards  very  slowly  warmed,  and  finally  boiled. 
The  advantage  derived  from  simmering , a term  not  unfre 
quent  in  cookery  books,  depends  very  much  upon  the  effects 
of  slow  boiling  as  above  explained. 

7°.  Beef-tea. — It  has  lately  been  recommended  to  make 
beef-tea  by  simply  chopping  the  meat  small,  pouring  upon  it 


THE  COOKING  OF  MEAT. 


123 


its  own  weight,  or  any  other  desired  quantity  of  cold  water 
and  bringing  it  quickly  to  a boil;  This  process  extracts  all 
the  natural  juices  and  gives  a most  agreeable  and  savoury 
tea,  which  holds  in  solution  about  one-eighth  part  of  the  solid 
substance  of  the  beef.  But  it  has  been  stated,  as  a recom- 
mendation of  this  process,  first,  that  the  tea,  obtained  con- 
tains all  the  nutritive  qualities  of  the  meat,  which  is  said  to 
be  no  longer  of  any  value,  and,  second , that  it  is  as  nutritious 
as  if  the  meat  were  boiled  long  enough  to  give  a tea  which 
should  stiffen  to  a jelly  when  cold. 

But  this  statement  is  incorrect,  and  is  made  only  in  con- 
sequence of  two  very  opposite  things  being  confounded. 
The  juice  of  the  meat  contains  a small  proportion  of  a sub- 
stance called  kreatin , which  is  rich  in  nitrogen,  has  a cer- 
tain chemical  relation  to  the  peculiar  principle  of  tea  and 
coffee  (them) — of  which  I shall  speak  in  a subsequent  chap- 
ter— and  exercises,  as  I believe,  a special  tonic  and  exhila- 
arating  influence  upon  the  system,  independent  of  any 
directly  nutritive  quality  it  may  possess.  This  substance, 
with  all  the  soluble  salts  of  the  flesh,  the  beef- tea  made 
after  the  above  process  contains,  and  the  residual  fleshy  fibre 
is  tasteless,  and  will  not  alone  support  animal  life  for  any 
length  of  time.  But  eaten  along  with  the  tea  thus  made,  or 
with  what  the  tea  contains,  or  made  into  savoury  meat  by 
the  addition  of  ordinary  gravy,  it  will  sustain  and  strengthen 
the  body,  as  all  experien3e  proves.  The  meat  tea  also  will 
be  more  nutritious,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  the  more  of  the 
jelly-forming  substance  of  the  meat  it  holds  in  solution.  It 
will  bear,  in  fact,  to  the  thinner  and  more  quickly  made 
beef-tea,  a similar  relation  to  that  which  cocoa  bears  to  the 
infusion  of  China  tea.*  Both  of  these  last  named  beverages 
contain  a peculiar  principle  rich  in  nitrogen,  which  exercises 


* See  The  Beverages  we  infuse. 


124 


THE  BEEF  WE  COOK. 


a special  influence  on  the  activity  of  the  brain ; but  the 
cocoa  is  rich  besides  in  the  substances  which  form  our  ordi- 
nary nourishment.  And  as,  in  consequence  of  this  differ* 
ence,  cocoa  is  not  so  well  suited  as  tea  or  coffee  to  the  digest* 
ive  powers  of  some  constitutions,  so  it  probably  is  with  the 
meat  teas  or  decoctions  prepared  by  the  two  processes 
referred  to.  The  correct  values,  both  relative  and  absolute, 
of  the  meat  teas  made  after  the  two  methods,  as  well  as  of 
the  undissolved  residue  of  the  meat,  are  therefore  easily  seen 
and  understood. 

8°.  Salting  of  Meat. — The  application  of  salt  to  fresh 
meat  has  very  much  of  the  same  effect  as  the  application  of 
a quick  heat.  It  causes  the  fibres  to  contract,  the  meat  to 
lesson  in  bulk  and  the  juice  to  flow  out  from  its  pores. 
Hence  the  reason  why  dry  salt  strewed  upon  fresh  lean 
meat  gradually  dissolves  into  a fluid  brine.  The  effect  of 
the  salt,  if  a large  quantity  be  applied,  penetrates  deep,  so 
that  as  much  as  one-third  of  the  juice  of  the  meat  is  often 
forced  out  by  the  contraction  of  the  fibres.  The  effect  of 
this  upon  the  meat  is  twofold.  It  diminishes  the  natural 
flavour,  by  removing  a large  proportion  of  the  peculiar  sub- 
stances contained  in  the  juice,  and  adding  pure  salt  in  their 
stead.  At  the  same  time  it  closes  up  the  pores  of  the  meat 
and  prevents  the  entrance  of  atmospheric  air,  thus  diminish- 
ing the  liability  to  decay. 

The  preservation  of  flesh  meat  by  salting,  depends, 
therefore,  upon  the  separation  of  water,,  upon  the  exclusion 
of  air,  upon  the  saturation  with  salt  of  the  juice  which 
remains  in  the  meat,  and  upon  the  formation  of  a weak  com- 
pound of  the  flesh  with  common  salt,  which  does  not  readily 
undergo  decay.  But  this  preservation  is  attended  by  a 
diminution  in  its  nutritive  qualities,  for  the  juice  which  flows 
out  contains  albumen  (white  of  egg),  kreatin,  phosphoric  acid, 


FLESH  MEAT  VERY  NUTRITIOUS. 


125 


and  potash.  These  substances  are  precisely  the  same  as  are 
more  fully  extracted  by  water,  in  the  method  of  making 
savoury  beef-tea,  already  described,  and  in  proportion  as 
they  are  extracted  they  diminish  the  nutritive  properties  of 
the  meat.  Hence  one  reason  why  long  feeding  on  salt  meat 
affects  the  health,  and  why  vegetable  and  other  substances, 
which  are  capable  of  supplying  what  the  meat  had  lost,  are 
found  to  be  the  best  means  of  restoring  it. 

As  a whole,  flesh  meat  is  eminently  nutritious,  because 
it  contains  all  the  materials  which  are  necessary  to  build  up 
our  own  flesh  ; but  remove  from  it  a portion  of  these  materi- 
als, and  the  remainder  becomes  more  or  less  useless, — 
as  bricks  and  stone  become  useless  to  the  builder  if  we 
refuse  him  the  requisite  quantity  of  mortar. 

9°.  The  Fat  of  Animal  and  Vegetable  Substances. — We 
have  seen  that,  as  a whole,  there  is  much  analogy  between 
the  bread  and  the  beef, — the  vegetable  and  the  animal  forms 
of  food  on  which  we  live.  Between  the  gluten  of  the  one 
and  the  fibrin  of  the  other,  we  have  also  found  a very  close 
similarity,  and  that  in  the  animal  economy  they  are  both 
fitted  and  intended  to  serve  the  same  main  purpose.  If  we 
compare  the  fatty  portions  of  both,  we  find  new  resem- 
blances. 

Most  of  the  varieties  of  fat  yielded  by  our  common  Euro- 
pean vegetables  are  fluid  and  oily  at  ordinary  temperatures. 
Such  is  the  case  with  the  fat  extracted  from  wheat,  from 
oats,  from  Indian  corn,  from  linseed,  from  the  olive,  the 
poppy,  the  walnut,  &c.  The  fat  of  the  oil  palm,  however, 
commonly  known  by  the  name  of  palm-oil,  and  some  other 
vegetable  fats  or  butters,  are  solid  in  the  natural  state,  and 
at  ordinary  temperatures.  And  even  the  oily  fats,  olive  oil 
for  example,  when  exposed  to  a low  temperature,  congeal  or 
freeze  to  a certain  extent,  and  allow  of  the  separation  of  a 
solid  fat  in  greater  or  less  proportion.  On  the  other  hand, 


126 


THE  BEEP  WE  COOK. 


those  which  are  solid  yield  to  pressure  a quantity  of  a liquid 
fatty  oil.  So  that  in  reality  all  vegetable  fats  consist  of  two 
fatty  substances,  one  of  which  is  solid,  and  the  other  liquid, 
at  ordinary  temperatures. 

Now,  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  animal  fats — with 
those  of  beef  and  mutton  for  example,  with  the  butter  of 
milk,  and  with  the  oil  contained  in  the  yolk  of  the  egg.  All 
consist  of  a solid  and  a liquid  fat,  and  in  this  fact  we  seo  a 
new  analogy  between  our  vegetable  and  our  animal  food. 

But  a still  further  and  more  intimate  analogy  exists 
between  the  solid  portions  of  the  fatty  substances  of  the  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  kingdoms.  When  the  solid  fat  of  palm- 
oil  is  properly  purified  it  is  found  to  consist  of  a solid, 
beautifully  white,  peculiar  fatty  body,  to  which  the  name  of 
'palmitine  has  been  given.  On  the  other  hand,  when  beef 
and  mutton  fats  are  pressed  from  the  oil  they  contain,  and 
then  purified,  the  most  abundant  substance  obtained  is  a 
peculiar  fat  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  stearine . The 
remainder  consists  principally  of  palmitine. 

Now,  of  these  two  fatty  bodies  the  solid  fat  of  all  our 
domestic  animals  almost  entirely  consists.  In  beef  and  mut- 
ton fats  the  stearine  is  the  more  abundant.  In  human  fat, 
in  that  of  the  goose,  and  in  that  of  butter,  the  stearine  and 
palmitine  are  in  nearly  equal  proportions.  It  is  the  same 
with  vegetable  fats.  They  consist  of  these  two  varieties  in 
different  proportions.  In  some  the  solid  part  consists  chiefly 
of  stearine ; in  others,  as  in  olive-oil,  the  stearine  and  pal 
mitine  are  nearly  equal  in  quantity ; while  in  others  again, 
as  in  palm-oil,  the  palmitine  is  the  principal  ingredient.  Thus, 
as  there  is  a kind  of  identity  in  nutritive  quality  and  value 
among  the  compounds  represented  respectively  by  gluten  in 
plants  and  by  fibrin  in  animals,  so  there  is  an  absolute  iden- 
tity of  substance — as  regards  their  solid  part  at  least — among 


VEGETABLE  AND  ANIMAL  FATS. 


127 


the  fatty  compounds  which  are  met  with  in  the  eatable  pro- 
ductions of  both  kingdoms* 

The  liquid  portions  of  the  fats  of  animals  and  vegetables, 
though  generally  regarded  as  being  also  for  the  most  part 
identical,  are  not  yet  so  well  understood  as  their  solid  por- 
tions. It  is  a fact  of  practical  interest,  however,  that  they 
become  rancid  by  exposure  to  the  air  sooner  than  the  solid 
fats  do.  Hence  hard  butter  keeps  sweet  longer  than  soft 
butter  does.  Hence,  also,  fat  meat  keeps  longer,  when  salt- 
ed, if  the  fat  be  hard.  And  hence  the  reason  why,  in  finishing 
off  fat  animals  for  the  butcher,  especially  if  they  are  to  be  salt- 
ed, it  is  usual  to  give  dry  food  for  some  time  before  killing, 
that  the  fat  may  be  hardened  and  the  flesh  made  firm. 

In  another  matter  of  detail  I might  show  how,  in  still 
more  minute  matters,  animal  and  vegetable  kinds  of  food  arG 
nearly  identical.  When  the  parts  of  plants  are  burned  in 
the  open  air  they  disappear  for  the  most  part,  as  I have  al- 
ready shown,*  and  leave  only  a small  proportion  of  ash  be- 
hind. This  ash  consists  of  a mixture  of  various  substances, 
spoken  of  as  their  mineral,  earthy,  saline,  or  inorganic  con- 
stituents. 

The  same  takes  place  when  the  parts  of  animals  are 
burned ; and  the  mixture  of  mineral  matters  obtained  con* 
sists,  in  either  case,  of  the  same  substances,  only  differing 
more  or  less  in  their  relative  proportions.  The  same  things 
occur  in  the  ash  of  bread  as  are  found  in  the  ash  of  beef.  In 
whatever  degree,  therefore,  the  nutritive  properties  of  our 
food  depend  upon  the  kind  of  mineral  matter  it  contains,  it 
is  almost  a matter  of  indifference  whether  we  live  upon  an 
animal  or  a vegetable  diet. 

But  to  this  interesting  point  I shall  have  occasion  to  re* 
turn  in  a subsequent  chapter. 


* See  TnE  Plant  we  rear,  p.  68. 


CHAPTER  VII, 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


THE  TEAS. 

Artificial  drinks  nearly  all  vegetable  infusions,  with  or  without  subsequent  chemical 
changes. — Tea,  extensive  use  of. — The  tea-plant;  how  its  leaves  are  gathered. — 
The  aroma  produced  by  the  roasting. — Mode  of  preparing  green  and  black  tea 
from  the  same  leaves. — Principal  varieties  of  green  and  black  tea, — Differences  in 
fragrance  and  flavour. — Ancient  use  of  tea  in  China  and  the  adjoining  countries.— 
Introduction  into  Europe. — Total  amount  of  tea  produced. — Consumption  in  the 
United  Kingdom. — Sensible  effects  of  tea. — Active  chemical  ingredients  in  tea. — 
The  volatile  oil,  its  action. — The  theine,  its  composition. — Occurs  in  coffee,  in 
mate,  and  in  guarana. — Its  effect  in  retarding  the  waste  of  the  tissues. — Why  tea 
is  a favourite  vith  the  poor. — The  tannin,  its  properties  and  effects. — The  gluten. 
— Tea-leaves  and  beans  compared  in  nutritive  quality. — Tartar  mode  of  using  tea. 
— Eating  the  exhausted  leaves. — Tea  varies  in  composition. — Proportion  extracted 
by  water  varies. — How  tea  is  coloured  or  dyed  green  in  China. — Lie  tea. — Mate 
or  Paraguay  tea, — Its  ancient  use  in  South  America. — The  Hex  paraguayenaia 
or  mate  tree,  where  it  grows,  and  how  its  leaves  are  collected. — Gongonha  of  Bra- 
zil, a variety  of  mat6. — Frequent  use  of  mat6,  and  its  effects. — Composition  of  the 
leaf. — The  volatile  oil,  the  theine,  the  tannic  acid,  and  the  gluten.— Coffee-tea 
made  from  the  leaf  of  the  coffee  tree. — Use  of  this  tea  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago. 
— Effects  observed  from  its  use  in  Sumatra. — Contains  the  same  active  ingredienli 
as  the  leaves  of  the  tea  trees.— Labrador  tea  used  in  North  America. — Abyssinian 
tea  or  chaat — Tasmanian  teas. — Faham  tea.— Substitutes  for  Chinese  tea  and  for 
mat6. 

The  two  most  important  natural  liquids,  water  and  milk 
have  already  been  treated  of ; various  artificial  drinks,  how- 
ever, are  prepared  both  in  civilised  and  in  semi-barbarous 


EXTENSIVE  USE  OF  TEA. 


129 


countries,  and  are  in  daily  use  among  vast  multitudes  of 
men ; — such  as  tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa,  beer,  wine,  and  ardent 
spirits — the  preparation  and  effects  of  each  of  which  are  con- 
nected with  interesting  chemical  considerations. 

These  drinks  agree  in  being  all  prepared  from  or  by 
means  of  substances  of  vegetable  origin,  and  in  being  gen- 
erally classed  among  the  luxuries,  rather  than  the  necessa- 
ries of  life. 

The  mode  in  which  they  are  prepared,  however,  naturally 
divides  these  drinks  into  two  classes.  Tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa 
are  roasted  and  prepared  before  they  are  infused  in  water, 
and  the  infusion  is  then  drunk  without  further  chemical  treat- 
ment. These  are  simple  infused  beverages.  Beer,  wine, 
and  ardent  spirits  are  prepared  from  infusions  which,  after 
being  made,  are  subjected  to  important  chemical  operations. 
Among  these  operations  is  the  process  of  fermentation,  and 
hence  they  are  properly  distinguished  as  fermented  liquors. 

I shall  consider  these  two  classes  of  drinks,  therefore, 
separately,  and  in  the  order  in  which  I have  mentioned  them. 

The  infused  beverages  are  drunk  hot,  fermented  drinks 
are  usually  taken  cold.  The  love  of  such  warm  drinks  pre- 
vails almost  universally.  In  frozen  Labrador  and  snowy 
Russia,  the  climate  might  account  for  this  predilection,  but 
the  craving  is  really  deeper  seated.  The  practice  prevails 
equally  in  tropical  and  in  arctic  regions.  In  Central  America 
the  Indian  of  native  blood,  and  the  Creole  of  mixed  Euro- 
pean race,  indulge  alike  in  their  ancient  chocolate.  In  South- 
ern America  the  tea  of  Paraguay  is  an  almost  universal  be- 
verage. The  native  North  American  tribes  have  their  Ap- 
allachian  tea,  their  Oswego  tea,  their  Labrador  tea,  and  many 
others.  From  Florida  to  Georgia,  in  the  United  States,  and 
over  all  the  W est  India  islands,  the  naturalised  European 
races  sip  their  favourite  coffee;  while  over  the  Northern 
States  of  the  Union,  and  in  the  British  provinces,  the  tea 
of  China  is  in  constant  and  daily  use. 


130 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


All  Europe,  too,  has  chosen  its  prevailing  beverago. 
Spain  and  Italy  delight  in  chocolate ; France  and  Germany, 
and  Sweden  and  Turkey,  in  coffee  ; Russia,  Holland,  and 
England  in  tea, — while  poor  Ireland  makes  its  warm  drink 
of  the  husks  of  the  cocoa,  the  refuse  of  the  chocolate  mills 
of  Italy  and  Spain. 

All  Asia  feels  the  same  want,  and  in  different  ways  has 
long  gratified  it.  Coffee,  indigenous  in  Arabia  or  the  ad- 
joining countries,  has  followed  the  banner  of  the  Prophet, 
wherever  in  Asia  or  Africa  his  false  faith  has  triumphed. 
Tea,  a native  of  China,  has  spread  spontaneously  over  the 
hill  country  of  the  Himalayas,  the  table-lands  of  Tartary 
and  Thibet,  and  the  plains  of  Siberia — has  climbed  the  Al- 
tais,  overspread  all  Russia,  and  is  equally  despotic  in  Mos- 
cow  as  in  St.  Petersburg.  In  Sumatra,  the  coffee-leaf  yields 
the  favourite  tea  of  the  dark-skinned  population,  while  Cen- 
tral Africa  boasts  of  the  Abyssinian  chaat  as  the  indigenous 
warm  drink  of  its  Ethiopian  peoples.  Everywhere  unin- 
toxicating and  non-narcotic  beverages  are  in  general  use, — 
among  tribes  of  every  colour,  beneath  every  sun,  and  in 
every  condition  cf  life.  The  custom,  therefore,  must  meet 
some  universal  want  of  our  poor  human  nature. 

The  beverages  we  infuse  naturally  arrange  themselves 
into  three  classes,  First,  the  teas  or  infusions  of  leaves. 
Second,  the  coffees  oj  infusions  of  seeds.  And  third,  the 
cocoas , which  are  more  properly  soups  or  gruels  than  simple 
infusions,  as  they  are  made  by  diffusing,  through  boiling 
water,  the  entire  seeds  of  certain  plants  previously  ground 
Into  a paste. 

I.  The  Teas. — -Of  teas  there  are  many  varieties  in  use 
in  different  parts  of  the  world ; but  China  tea,  Paraguay 
tea  or  mate,  and  perhaps  coffee-tea,  are  the  most  extensively 
consumed  as  national  beverages.  There  are  some  others  in 
constant  though  less  general  employment,  to  which  it  will 
be  necessary  somewhat  briefly  to  advert. 


THE  TEA-PLANT. 


131 


1°.  China  tea  is  not  only  the  most  important  of  these 
beverages  to  the  British  and  other  English-speaking  peoples 
but  it  forms  the  daily  drink  of  a larger  Fi  2s. 
number  of  men  than  all  the  others  put  to- 
gether. Among  the  three  hundred  mil- 
lions of  China,  and  among  the  inhabitants 
of  Japan,  Thibet,  and  Nepaul,  it  is  an  ar- 
ticle of  consumption  with  all  classes  three 
or  four  times  a-day.  In  Asiatic  Russia 
also,  in  a large  portion  of  Europe,  in 
North  America,  and  in  Australasia,  it  is 
in,  or  is  coming  into,  almost  equally  ex. 
tensive  use.  It  is  consumed  at  the  present 
moment  by  probably  not  less  than  five 
hundred  millions  of  men,  or  one-half  of  Thea  lohea— the  Bohea 

Tea-plant. 

the  whole  human  race.  Scale,  1 inch  to  5 feet. 

Scale  for  leaf,  1 inch 
to  2 inches. 


The  tea-plant  ( Thea  sinensis)  has 


Fig.  29. 


much  resemblance  to  the  Camel- 
lia J aponica.  There  are  several 
varieties  of  it,  distinguished  by 
some  botanists  as  the  Thea  viri- 
dis , T.  bohea , and  T strieta , but 
all  are  now  recognised  as  belong- 
ing to  one  single  species,  some- 
what altered  in  habit  and  appear- 
ance by  cultivation,  climate,  and 
soil.  The  two  most  marked  va- 
rieties are  represented  by  the 
annexed  woodcuts.  The  smaller 
(fig.  28)  is  the  Thea  bohea , 
which  produces  the  inferior  green 
and  black  teas  which  are  made 
about  Canton.  The  larger  (fig. 

29)  is  the  Thea  viridis , the 
more  northern  variety,  from  Thea  viridis — the  common  Tea-plant 
which  are  made  all  the  fine  scaicfor'ioutch  Pitches. 


132 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE* 


green  teas  in  the  great  Hwuy-chow  and  the  adjoining  pro 
vinces.  The  plant  is  believed  to  be  a native  of  China,  and 
grows  wild  still  among  the  hills  both  of  that  country  and  of 
Japan.  It  thrives  best  in  the  cooler  parts  of  the  tropical 
zone,  but  grows  in  the  temperate  zone  even  as  far  north  as 
the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude.  The  districts  of  China 
which  supply  the  greater  portion  of  the  teas  exported  to 
Europe  and  America  lie  between  the  25th  and  the  31st  de- 
grees of  north  latitude,  and  the  best  districts  are  those  be- 
tween 27°  and  31°. — (Fortune.) 

The  tea-plants  are  raised  from  seed  which,  to  secure  ger- 
mination, is  kept  over  winter  in  moist  earth,  and  sown  in 
March.  When  a year  old,  the  young  bushes  are  planted 
out,  and  then  by  cropping  the  main  shoot  for  the  first  year 
they  are  kept  down  to  a height  of  about  3 feet,  and  made 
to  grow  bushy.  Being  placed  in  rows  3 or  4 feet  apart,  they 
have  some  resemblance  to  a garden  of  gooseberry  bushes. 
The  cropping  of  the  leaves  begins  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
years,  and  is  seldom  continued  beyond  the  tenth  or  twelfth, 
when  the  bushes  are  dug  up  and  renewed.  The  plant 
thrives  best  on  dry  sunny  slopes,  where  occasional  showers 
fall  and  springs  appear,  and  where  an  open,  somewhat  stony 
but  rich  soil  prevents  the  water  from  lingering  about  its 
roots.  The  season  for  gathering  varies  in  different  districts, 
but  the  principal  leaf-harvest  ends  in  May  or  June.  The 
leaves  are  plucked  by  the  hand,  and  chiefly  by  women. 
They  are  generally  gathered  at  three  successive  seasons. 
The  youngest  and  earliest  leaves  are  the  most  tender  and 
delicate,  and  give  the  highest  flavoured  tea.  The  second 
and  third  gatherings  are  more  bitter  and  woody,  and  yield 
less  soluble  matter  to  water.  The  refuse  and  decayed 
leaves  and  twigs  are  pressed  into  moulds  and  sold  under  the 
name  of  brick  tea.  These  bricks  are  often  made  harder  by 
mixing  the  leaves  with  the  serum  of  sheep  and  ox  blood.  This 


MODE  OF  PREPARING  THE  TEA-LEAVES. 


133 


inferior  variety  is  chiefly  consumed  in  northern  China  and 
Thibet. 

The  first  in  order,  and  not  the  least  interesting  point, 
in  the  chemical  history  of  the  tea  we  use,  is  the  mode  in 
which  it  is  prepared  for  the  market.  The  leaves  when 
freshly  plucked  have  neither  a decidedly  astringent,  an  aro- 
matic, nor  a bitter  taste.  They  possess  nothing,  in  fact, 
either  of  the  odour  or  flavour  of  the  dried  leaves.  The  plea- 
sant taste  and  delightful  natural  scent  for  which  they  are 
afterwards  so  highly  prized,  are  all  developed  by  the  roast- 
ing which  they  undergo  in  the  process  of  drying.  The  details 
of  this  process  have  lately  been  made  known  to  us  through 
the  investigations  of  Mr.  Fortune. 

Another  interesting  chemical  fact  is,  that  different  quali- 
ties of  tea  are  prepared  from  the  same  leaves,  according  to 
the  way  in  which  they  are  treated  in  the  drying.  This  we 
should  to  a certain  extent  expect ; but  the  inquiries  of  Mr. 
Fortune  have  shown  that  samples  so  very  unlike  as  the  green 
and  black  teas  usually  are  may  be  prepared  at  will  from  the 
same  leaves,  gathered  at  the  same  time  and  under  the  same 
circumstances.  The  mode  of  drying  and  roasting  the 
leaves  generally,  and  the  specific  processes  by  which  the 
green  and  the  black  teas  are  severally  obtained,  have  been 
minutely  described  by  Mr.  Fortune  ; * and  from  his  descrip- 
tion we  learn — 

* His  description  is  as  follows : — 

For  Green  Tea. — When  the  leaves  are  brought  in  from  the  plantations  they  are 
spread  out  thinly  on  flat  bamboo  trays,  in  order  to  dry  off  any  superfluous  moisture. 
They  remain  for  a very  short  time  exposed  in  this  manner,  generally  from  one  to  two 
hours ; this,  however,  depends  much  upon  the  state  of  the  weather. 

In  the  mean  time  time  the  roasting-pans  have  been  heated  wTith  a brisk  wood-fire. 
A portion  of  leaves  is  now  thrown  into  each  pan,  and  rapidly  moved  about 
and  shaken  up  with  both  hands.  They  are  immediately  affected  by  the  heat,  begin 
to  make  a crackling  noise,  and  become  quite  moist  and  flaccid,  while  at  the  same  time 
they  give  out  a considerable  portion  of  vapour.  They  remain  in  this  state  for  four  or 
$ve  minutes,  and  are  then  drawn  quickly  out  and  placed  upon  the  rolling-table,  and 
rolled  with  the  hands. 

Having  been  thrown  again  into  the  pan,  a slow  and  steady  charcoal  fire  is  kept  up. 


134 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


First , That,  in  the  process  of  drying,  the  leaves  are 
roasted  and  scorched  in  such  a way  as  necessarily  to  bring 

and  the  leaves  are  kept  in  rapid  motion  by  the  hands  of  workmen.  Sometimes  they 
are  thrown  upon  the  rattan-table,  and  lolled  a second  time.  In  about  an  hour,  or  an 
hour  and  a half,  the  leaves  ars  well  dried,  and  their  colour  has  become  fixed, — that  is, 
there  is  no  longer  any  danger  of  their  becoming  black.  They  are  of  a dullish  green 
colour,  but  become  brighter  afterwards. 

The  most  particular  part  of  the  operation  has  now  been  finished,  and  the  tea  may 
be  put  aside  until  a larger  quantity  has  been  made.  The  second  part  of  the  process 
consists  in  winnowing  and  passing  the  tea  through  sieves  of  different  sizes,  in  order  to 
to  get  rid  of  the  dust  and  other  impurities,  and  to  divide  the  tea  into  the  different 
kinds  known  as  twankay,  hyson-skin,  hyson,  young  hyson,  gunpowder,  &c.  During 
this  process  it  is  re-fired — the  coarse  kinds  once,  and  the  finer  sorts  three  or  four 
times.  By  this  time  the  colour  has  come  out  more  fully,  and  the  leaves  of  the  finer 
kinds  are  of  a dull  bluish  green. 

For  Black  Tea. — When  the  leaves  are  brought  in  from  the  plantations  they 
are  spread  out  upon  large  bamboo  mats  or  trays,  and  are  allowed  to  lie  in  this 
state  for  a considerable  time.  If  they  are  brought  in  at  night  they  lie  until  next 
morning. 

The  leaves  are  next  gathered  up  by  the  workmen  with  both  hands,  thrown  into 
the  air,  and  allowed  to  separate  and  fall  down  again.  They  are  tossed  about  in  this 
manner,  and  slightly  beat  or  patted  with  the  hands,  for  a considerable  space  of  time. 
At  length,  when  they  become  soft  and  flaccid,  they  are  thrown  in  heaps,  and  allowed 
to  lie  in  this  state  for  about  an  hour , or  perhaps  a littlelonger.  When  examined 
at  the  end  of  this  time,  they  appear  to  have  undergone  a slight  change  in  colour,  are 
6oft  and  moist,  and  emit  a fragrant  smell. 

The  rolling  process  now  commences.  Several  men  take  their  stations  at  the  roll- 
ing-table, and  divide  the  leaves  amongst  them.  Each  takes  as  many  as  he  can  press 
with  his  hands,  and  makes  them  up  in  the  form  of  a ball.  This  is  rolled  upon  the 
rattan-worked  table,  and  greatly  compressed,  the  object  being  to  get  rid  of  a portion 
of  the  sap  and  moisture,  and  at  the  same  time  to  twist  the  leaves.  These  balls  of 
leaves  are  frequently  shaken  out,  and  passed  from  hand  to  hand  until  they  reach  the 
head  workman,  who  examines  them  carefully  to  see  if  they  have  taken  the  requisite 
twist.  When  he  is  satisfied  of  this,  the  leaves  are  removed  from  the  rolling-table  and 
shaken  out  upon  flat  trays,  until  the  remaining  portions  have  undergone  the  same  pro- 
cess. In  no  case  are  they  allowed  to  lie  long  in  this  state,  and  sometimes  they  are 
taken  at  once  to  the  roasting-pan. 

The  next  part  of  the  process  is  exactly  the  same  as  in  the  manipulation  of  green 
tea.  The  leaves  are  thrown  into  an  iron  pan,  where  they  are  roasted  for  about  fiva 
minutes,  and  then  rolled  upon  the  rattan-table. 

After  being  rolled,  the  leaves  are  shaken  out,  thinly,  on  sieves,  and  exposed  to  th« 
air  out  of  doors.  A framework  for  this  purpose,  made  of  bamboo,  is  generally  seen  in 
front  of  all  the  cottages  among  the  tea  hills.  The  leaves  are  allowed  to  remain  in 
this  condition  for  about  three  hours : during  this  time  the  workmen  are  employed  in 
going  over  the  sieves  in  rotation,  turning  the  leaves  and  separating  them  from  each 
itlier.  A fine  dry  day,  when  the  sun  is  not  too  bright,  seems  to  be  preferred  for  this 
part  of  the  operation. 

The  leaves  having  now  lost  a large  portion  of  their  moisture,  and  having  be* 


GREEN  AND  BLACK  TEAS. 


135 


about  many  chemical  changes  within  the  substance  of  th« 
leaves  themselves.  The  result  of  these  changes  is  to  produce 
the  varied  flavours,  odours,  and  tastes  by  which  different 
varieties  of  tea  are  more  or  less  distinguished. 

Second , That  the  treatment  or  mode  of  handling  by 
which  the  leaves  are  converted  respectively  into  green  and 
black  teas,  is  the  cause  of  the  different  colours  of  these  two 
main  varieties.  Thus,  for 

Green  Teas.  Blaclc  Teas. 


1°.  The  leaves  are  roasted  almost 
Immediately  after  they  are  gathered. 

2°.  They  are  dried  off  quickly  after 
the  rolling  process.  The  whole  operation 
is  speedy  and  simple. 


1°.  They  are  allowed  to  be  spread 
out  in  the  air  for  some  time  after  they  are 
gathered. 

2°.  They  are  then  further  tossed  about 
till  they  become  soft  and  flaccid. 

3°.  They  are  now  roasted  for  a few 
minutes,  and  rolled;  after  which,  they 
are  exposed  to  the  air  for  a,  few  hours  in 
a soft  and  moist  state. 

4°.  Lastly,  they  are  dried  slowly  over 
charcoal  fires. 


It  is  by  lengthened  exposure  to  the  air,  therefore,  in  the 
process  of  drying,  accompanied,  perhaps,  by  a slight  heating 


come  considerably  reduced  in  size,  are  removed  into  the  factory.  They  are  put  a 
second  time  into  the  roasting-pan  for  three  or  fbur  minutes,  and  taken  out  and  rolled 
as  before. 

The  charcoal  fires  are  now  got  ready.  A tubular  basket,  narrow  at  the  middle  and 
wide  at  both  ends,  is  placed  over  the  fire.  A sieve  is  dropped  into  the  tube,  and 
covered  with  leaves,  which  are  shaken  on  it  to  about  an  inch  in  thickness.  After 
five  or  six  minutes,  during  which  time  they  are  carefully  watched,  they  are  removed 
from  the  fire  and  rolled  a third  time.  As  the  balls  of  leaves  comes  from  the  hands  of 
the  rollers,  they  are  placed  in  a heap  until  the  whole  have  been  rolled.  They  are 
again  shaken  on  the  sieves  as  before,  and  set  over  the  fire  for  a little  while  longer. 
Sometimes  the  last  operation— namely,  heating  and  rolling— is  repeated  a fourth  time ; 
the  leaves  have  now  assumed  a dark  colour. 

When  the  whole  have  been  gone  over  in  this  manner,  they  are  placed  thickly  in 
the  baskets,  which  are  again  set  over  the  charcoal  fire.  The  workman  now  makes  s 
bole  with  his  hand  through  the  centre  of  the  leaves,  to  allow  vent  to  any  smoke  or 
vapour  which  may  rise  from  the  charcoal,  as  well  as  to  let  up  the  heat,  which  has 
been  greatly  reduced  by  covering  up  the  fires.  The  tea  now  remains  over  the  slow 
charcoal  fire,  covered  with  a flat  basket,  until  it  is  perfectly  dry, — carefully  watch- 
ed, however,  by  the  manufacturer,  who  every  now  and  then  stirs  it  up  with  his 
hands,  so  that  the  whole  may  be  equally  heated.  The  black  colour  is  now  fairiy 
brought  out,  but  afterwards  improves  in  appearance.  The  after  processes,  such  as 
sifting,  picking,  and  refining,  are  carried  on  at  the  convenience  of  the  workmen. 


136 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


und  fermentation,  that  the  dark  colour  and  distinguishing 
flavour  are  given  to  the  black  teas  of  commerce.  The 
oxygen  of  the  atmosphere  acts  rapidly  upon  the  juices  of 
the  leaf  during  this  exposure,  and  changes  chemically  the 
peculiar  substances  they  contain,  so  as -to  impart  to  the  en- 
tire leaf  the  dark  hue  it  finally  acquires.  The  precise  nature, 
however,  of  these  changes  has  not  as  yet  been  chemically 
investigated. 

This  action  of  the  air  does  not  appear  sensibly  to  affect 
the  weight  of  the  tea  obtained,  as  three  pounds  of  the  fresh 
leaves  produce  on  an  average  about  one  pound  of  marketable 
tea  of  either  kind.  The  teas  intended  for  home  consumption 
are  not  so  highly  dried  as  those  which  are  prepared  for  ex- 
portation— (Dr.  Bowring) — a circumstance  which  must  affect 
the  quality  of  the  beverage  they  yield. 

The  produce  of  different  districts  varies  in  quality  and 
flavour  with  the  climate,  the  soil,  and  the  variety  of  plant 
cultivated,  as  well  as  with  the  period  at  which  the  leaves  are 
gathered,  and  with  the  mode  of  drying  them.  The  finest  tea 
of  China  grows  between  the  27th  and  31st  parallels  of  north 
latitude,  on  a low  range  of  hills,  which  is  an  offshoot  of  the 
great  chain  of  Pe-ling.  The  principal  varieties  of  black  tea 
are  known  by  the  names  of  Bohea,  Congou,  Campoi,  Sou- 
chong, Caper,  and  Pekoe.  Of  these  the  bobea  grows  in  the 
province  of  Fu-kian  (Fokien).  Pekoe,  or  pak-ho,  means 
“ white  down  ” in  Chinese,  and  consists  of  the  first  downy 
sprouts  or  leaf-buds  of  three-year-old  plants.  A very  costly 
tea  of  this  kind,  known  as  the  “ Tea  of  the  wells  of  the 
Dragon,”  is  used  only  by  persons  of  the  highest  rank  in 
China,  and  is  never  brought  to  Europe.  Caper  is  in  hard 
grains,  made  up  of  the  dust  of  the  other  varieties  cemented 
together  by  means  of  gum.  The  green  teas  are  known  as 
Twankay,  Hyson-skin,  Hyson,  Imperial,  and  Gunpowder. 
The  hyson  is  grown  in  the  province  of  Song-ho.  The  true 


VARIETIES  OF  TEAS 


137 


imperial,  known  also,  because  of  its  excellence,  as  the  flot- 
theac,  seldom  comes  to  Europe, — that  which  is  usually  sold 
under  this  name  being  really  Chusan  tea  flavoured  with  tlia 
cowslip-coloured  blossoms  of  the  sweet-scented  olive  ( Olea 
fragrans).  The  practice  of  scenting  teas  is  very  common, 
and  various  odoriferous  plants  are  employed  for  the  purpose 
in  different  parts  of  China.*  It  is  remarked,  however,  by 
the  dealers  in  tea,  that  the  plantations  which  naturally  yield 
a produce  of  a particularly-esteemed  flavour  are  as  limited  in 
extent  as  the  vineyards  in  Europe  which  are  celebrated  for 
particular  kinds  of  wine.  The  price  of  tea  varies,  of  course, 
with  the  variations  in  natural  quality,  being  for  some  samples 
double  or  treble  what  is  asked  for  others.  But  the  average 
price  at  Canton  is  about  8|d.  a-pound,  so  that  the  grower 
must  sell  it  at  5d.  or  6d.  (Meyen.) 

Tea-leaves  prepared  as  above-described  have  been  in  use 
as  a beverage  in  China  from  very  remote  periods.  Tradition 
speaks  of  it  as  early  as  the  third  century.  The  legend  re- 
lates, “ that  a pious  hermit,  who,  in  his  watchings  and 
prayers,  had  often  been  overtaken  by  sleep,  so  that  his  eye- 
lids closed,  in  holy  wrath  against  the  weakness  of  the  flesh, 
cut  them  off  and  threw  them  on  the  ground.  But  a god 
caused  a tea- shrub  to  spring  out  of  them,  the  leaves  of  which 
exhibit  the  form  of  an  eyelid  bordered  with  lashes,  and  pos- 
sess the  gift  of  hindering  sleep.  A similar  story  is  related 
concerning  the  introduction  of  coffee  into  Arabia.  Both 
legends  were  probably  invented  long  after  the  qualities  of 
tea  and  coffee  were  known. 

It  was  after  the  year  600  that  the  use  of  tea  became 

* Among  these  are  mentioned  the  Olea  fragrans,  Chloranthus  inconspicuus,  Gar- 
denia florida,  Aglaia  odorata,  Mogorium  sambac,  Vitex  spicata,  Camellia  sasanqua, 
Camellia  odorifera,  Illicium  anisatum,  Magnolia  yulan,  Rosa  indica  odoratissima, 
Murraya  exotica,  turmeric,  oil  of  Bixa  orellana,  and  the  root  of  the  Florentine  Iria. 
With  such  a list  before  us,  we  cannot  wonder  that  teas  should -exhibit  great  diversity 
b fragrance  and  flavour. 


138 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


general  in  China,  and  early  in  the  ninth  century  (810)  it  was 
introduced  into  J apan.  To  Europe  it  was  not  brought  till 
about  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Hot  infu- 
sions of  leaves  had  been  already  long  familiar  as  drinks  in 
European  countries.  Dried  sage-leaves  were  much  in  use 
in  England,*  and  are  even  said  to  have  been  carried  as  an 
article  of  trade  to  China  by  the  Dutch,  to  be  there  ex- 
changed for  the  Chinese  leaf,  which  has  since  almost  entirely 
superseded  them.  A Russian  embassy  to  China  also 
brought  back  to  Moscow  some  carefully-packed  green  tea, 
which  was  received  with  great  acceptance.  And  in  the 
same  century  (1664)  the  English  East  India  Company  con- 
sidered it  as  a rare  gift  to  present  the  Queen  of  England 
with  two  pounds  of  tea  !”  f 

The  growth  and  consumption  of  tea  are  now  really  enor- 
mous. Mr.  Ingham  Travers  estimates  the  total  produce  of 
the  dried  leaf  in  China  alone  at  a million  of  tons,  or  2240 
millions  of  pounds  ! J To  this  is  to  be  added  the  tea  of 
Japan,  Corea,  Assam,  and  Java.  The  produce  of  this  latter 
island  already  goes  far  to  supply  the  markets  of  Holland  ; 
and  the  introduction  of  the  tea-plant  into  the  hill-country  of 
India  promises  to  add  largely  to  its  future  growth.  The 
quantity  of  tea  yielded  by  an  acre  of  land  is  not  stated  in 
any  book  to  which  I have  access  ; but  if  we  take  it  at  600 
lbs.,  which  is  probably  a full  estimate,  the  extent  of  land  de- 
voted to  this  branch  of  rural  industry  in  China  alone  must 
be  nearly  millions  of  acres  ! 

The  consumption  of  tea  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  1352 
amounted  to  55  millions  of  pounds  (24,000  tons) — about 

* Sage  was  in  frequent  use  till  after  the  middle  of  last  century.  In  the  life  of 
Whitfield,  i*.  is  stated,  that,  when  in  his  fasting  humours  at  Oxford,  “he  ato  nothing 
Dut  sage  tea  without  sugar,  and  coarse  bread.”  This  was  about  1730. 

t The  Plant , by  Schlelden.  Second  Edition,  p.  142. 

X A Few  Words  on  the  Tea  Duties.  London,  1853 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  EFFECTS  OF  TEA.  139 

one  forty-fifth  part  of  the  estimated  produce  of  China.  This 
is  at  the  rate  of  1 lb.  9 oz.  per  head  of  the  population,  and 
the  consumption  is  rapidly  on  the  increase.  Among  Euro- 
pean nations  tea  is  pre-eminently  a British,  Dutch,  and 
Russian  drink.  Among  the  other  nations  of  Europe,  coffee 
and  cocoa  are  more  usual  beverages  than  tea.  This  is 
strikingly  illustrated  by  the  fact,  that  while  in  1835  about 
36  millions  of  pounds  of  tea  were  consumed  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  only  200,000  lbs.  were  consumed  in  the  kingdom 
of  Prussia  ! The  population  of  Prussia  was  then  upwards 
of  thirteen  millions. 

The  effects  of  tea,  as  it  is  used  in  China,  are  thus  de- 
scribed by  Chinese  writers  : “ Tea  is  of  a cooling  nature, 
and,  if  drunk  too  freely,  will  produce  exhaustion  and  lassi- 
tude. Country  people,  before  drinking  it,  add  ginger  and 
salt  to  counteract  this  cooling  propejtgrdfe  m^CDfNfts^eeding. 
ly  useful  plant.  Drink  it,  an^r^^^iinfl  spi^s  ^^be 
lively  and  clear.  The  chief  atalers  and  npj^p-ty  eswm 
the  lower  people,  the  poor,  aljd  beggarly  will  noLha  desti- 
tute  of  it.  All  use  it  daily,  Vnd  lik^it.55  Ano|J\e|  writer, 
says,  u Drinking  it  tends  to  clefc^  awav  alhi^piritie^  drives 
off  drowsiness,  removes  or  prever^j^e^^ac^h^  is 

versally  in  high  esteem.”*  - •- 

The  mode  of  using  it  in  China  is  to  put  the  tea  into  a 
cup,  to  pour  hot  water  upon  it,  and  then  to  drink  the  infu- 
sion off  the  leaves,  and  without  admixture.  While  wander- 
ing over  the  tea  districts  of  China,  Mr.  Fortune  only  once 
met  with  sugar  and  a tea-spoon. 

The  mode  of  making  and  drinking  the  infusion  of  tea 
probably  does  not  alter  its  general  effects  upon  the  system. 
In  China  cold  water  is  disliked,  and  considered  as  unwhole- 
some, and  therefore  tea  is  taken  to  quench  the  thirst,  which 


* Fortune’s  Tea  Districts  of  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  231. 


140 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


it  probably  does  best  when  drunk  unmixed.  -The  universal 
use,  on  the  other  hand,  of  sugar  and  cream  or  milk  among  us, 
probably  arose  from  its  being  introduced  here  as  a beverage 
among  grown-up  people  whose  tastes  were  already  formed, 
and  who  required  something  to  make  the  bitter  infusion 
palatable.  The  practice  thus  begun  has  ever  since  con- 
tinued, and,  physiologically  considered,  is  on  the  whole,  I 
oelieve,  an  improvement  upon  the  Eastern  fashion. 

The  effects  of  tea  as  obtained  and  thus  used  among  us 
are  too  familiarly  known  to  require  any  detailed  explanation. 
It  exhilarates  without  sensibly  intoxicating.  It  excites  the 
brain  to  increased  activity  and  produces  wakefulness ; thence 
its  usefulness  to  hard  students,  to  those  who  have  vigils  to 
keep,  and  to  persons  who  labour  much  with  the  head.  It 
soothes,  on  the  contrary,  and  stills  the  vascular  system,  and 
hence  its  use  in  inflammatory  diseases  and  as  a cure  for 
headache.  Green  tea,  when  taken  strong,  acts  very  power- 
fully upon  some  constitutions,  producing  nervous  tremblings 
and  other  distressing  symptoms,  acting  as  a narcotic,  and  in 
inferior  animals  even  producing  paralysis.*  Its  exciting 
effect  upon  the  nerves  makes  it  useful  in  counteracting  the 
effects  of  opium  and  of  fermented  liquors,  and  the  stupor 
sometimes  induced  by  fever. 

In  manufactured  tea  there  are  at  least  three  active  che- 
mical substances,  by  the  conjoined  influence  of  which  these 
effects  are  produced. 

1°.  The  volatile  oil. — When  commercial  tea  is  distilled 
with  water  there  passes  over  a small  quantity  of  a volatile 
oil,  which  possesses  the  aroma  and  flavour  of  the  tea  in  a 
high  degree.  A hundred  pounds  of  tea  yield  about  one 
pound  of  this  oil,  and  to  this  minute  quantity  of  its  volatile 
ingredient  the  value  of  tea  in  general  estimation  is  in  a great 

* New  tea  in  China  is  said  to  exhibit  this  narcotic  quality  in  a high  degree,  and 
hence  the  Chinese  rarely  use  tea  before  it  is  a year  old. 


VOLATILE  OIL  OF  TEA. 


141 


measure  due.  Its  special  action  upon  the  system  has  not 
yet,  we  believe,  been  scientifically  investigated.  But  that 
it  does  exercise  a powerful,  and  most  likely  a narcotic  influ- 
ence, is  rendered  probable  by  many  known  facts.  Among 
these  I mention  the  headaches  and  giddinesses  to  which  tea- 
tasters  are  subject ; the  attacks  of  paralysis  to  which,  after 
years,  those  who  are  employed  in  packing  and  unpacking 
chests  of  tea  are  found  to  be  liable ; and  the  circumstance 
already  alluded  to,  that  in  China  tea  is  rarely  used  till  it 
is  a year  old,  because  of  the  peculiar  intoxicating  property 
which  new  tea  possesses.  The  effect  of  this  keeping  upon 
tea  must  be  chiefly  to  allow  a portion  of  the  volatile  ingredi- 
ents of  the  leaf  to  escape.  And  lastly,  that  there  is  a 
powerful  virtue  in  this  oil  is  rendered  probable  by  the  fact, 
that  the  similar  oil  of  coffee  has  been  found  by  experiment  to 
possess  narcotic  properties. 

This  volatile  ingredient  does  not  exist  in  the  natural 
leaf,  but  is  produced  during  the  process  of  drying  and  roast- 
ing already  described. 

2°.  The  Theine. — When  dry  finely-powdered  tea-leaves 
are  put  upon  a watch-glass,  covered  over  with  a conical  cap 
of  paper,  and  then  placed  upon  a hot  plate,  a white  vapour 
gradually  rises  from  the  leaves,  and  condenses  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  paper  in  the  form  of  minute  colourless  crystals. 
If,  instead  of  the  leaves,  a dried  watery  extract  of  the 
leaves  be  employed,  the  crystals  will  be  obtained  in  greater 
abundance.  These  crystals  consist  of  the  substance  known 
to  chemists  by  the  name  of  Theine  or  Caffeine.  The  teas 
of  commerce  contain,  on  an  average,  about  two  per  cent,  of 
this  theine. — (Stenhouse.)  In  some  it  is  a little  more. 
Certain  green  teas,  according  to  Peligot,  contain  as  much  as 
six  pounds  in  every  hundred  pounds  of  the  dried  tea ; but 
so  large  a proportion  as  this  is  very  rare. 

Theine  has  no  smell,  and  onlv  a slightlj  bitter  taste. 


142 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


It  lias  little  to  do,  therefore,  either  with  the  taste  or  flavoul 
of  the  tea  from  which  it  is  extracted.  It  is  remarkable, 
however,  in  three  respects — 

Fir sty  in  containing  a very  large  per  centage  of  nitrogen, 
an  element  I have  already  spoken  of  as  forming  a large  pro- 
portion of  our  common  atmospheric  air,  and  as  distinguish- 
ing the  gluten  of  wheat  from  the  starch  with  which  it  is 
associated  in  the  grain.*  The  composition  of  the  dried 
theine  is  represented  by  the  following  numbers — 


Carbon,  49.80 

Hydrogen, 5.08 

Nitrogen, 28.83 


Oxygen,  16.29 

100 

It  contains,  therefore,  jtiearly  three-tenths  of  its  weight 
of  nitrogen  ; a proportion  which  exists  in  only  a very  small 
‘number  of  other  known  substances. 

Second. — Theine  is  remarkable  as  being  present  not  only 
in  Chinese  tea,  but  also  in  Mate  or  Paraguay  tea,  in  coffee, 
and  in  guarana — a substance  prepared  and  used  in  Brazil  in 
the  same  way  as  coffee.  It  is  a very  curious  fact  that,  in 
countries  so  remote  from  each  other,  plants  so  very  unlike 
as  all  these  are  should  have  been,  by  a kind  of  instinct  as  it 
were,  selected  for  the  same  purpose  of  yielding  a slightly 
exciting,  exhilarating,  and  refreshing  beverage;  and  that 
these  plants,  when  now  examined  by  chemists,  should  all  be 
found  to  contain  the  same  remarkable  compound  body  which 
we  call  theine  or  caffeine.  The  selection  must  have  been 
made  by  the  independent  discovery,  in  each  country  and  by 
each  people,  that  these  several  plants  were  capable  of  grati- 
fying a natural  constitutional  craving,  or  of  supplying  a 
want  equally  felt  by  all. 

* See  Tire  Air  we  breathe  and  The  Bread  we  eat. 


THE  THEINE  OF  TEA. 


143 


Third. — The  observed  effects  of  this  substance,  when 
introduced  into  the  system,  justify  this  conclusion,  and  form 
the  third  point  which  is  worthy  of  remark  in  regard  to  it 
It  is  known  that  the  animal  body,  while  living,  undergoes 
constant  decay  and  renovation.  The  labours  of  life  waste  it 
— the  food  introduced  into  the  stomach  renews  it.  That 
which  is  wasted  passes  off  through  the  lungs  and  the  kidneys, 
or  is  in  other  ways  rejected  from  the  body  of  the  animal. 
The  solid  matters  contained  in  the  urine  are  in  some  degree 
a measure  of  this  waste  ; and  especially  the  quantity  of  urea 
and  phosphoric  acid  it  contains  at  different  periods,  is  sup- 
posed to  measure  the  comparative  waste  of  the  tissues  at 
these  different  times.  Now,  the  introduction  into  the 
stomach  of  even  a minute  proportion  of  theine — three  or 
four  grains  a-day — has  the  remarkable  effect  of  sensibly 
diminishing  the  absolute  quantity  of  these  substances  voided 
in  a day  by  a healthy  man,  living  on  the  same  kind  of  food, 
and  engaged  in  the  same  occupation,  under  the  same  circum- 
stances. This  fact  indicates  that  the  waste  of  the  body  is 
lessened  by  the  introduction  of  theine  into  the  stomach — 
that  is,  by  the  use  of  tea.  And  if  the  waste  be  lessened, 
the  necessity  for  food  to  repair  it  will  be  lessened  in  an 
equal  proportion.  In  other  words,  by  the  consumption  of  a 
certain  quantity  of  tea,  the  health  and  strength  of  the  body 
will  be  maintained  in  an  equal  degree  upon  a smaller  supply 
of  ordinary  food.  Tea.,  therefore,  saves  food — stands  to  a 
certain  extent  in  the  place  of  food — while  at  the  same  time 
it  soothes  the  body  and  enlivens  the  mind. 

In  the  old  and  infirm  it  serves  also  another  purpose.  In 
the  life  of  most  persons  a period  arrives  when  the  stomach 
no  longer  digests  enough  of  the  ordinary  elements  of  food, 
to  make  up  for  the  natural  daily  waste  of  the  bodily  sub- 
stance. The  size  and  weight  of  the  body,  therefore,  begin  to 
diminish  more  or  less  perceptibly.  At  this  period  tea  comes 


144 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


in  as  a medicine  to  arrest  the  waste,  to  keep  the  body  from 
falling  away  so  fast,  and  thus  to  enable  the  less  energetic 
powers  of  digestion  still  to  supply  as  much  as  is  needed  to 
repair  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  solid  tissues. 

No  wonder,  therefore,  that  tea  should  be  a favourite,  on 
the  one  hand,  with  the  poor,  whose  supplies  of  substantial 
food  are  scanty — and  on  the  other,  with  the  aged  and  infirm, 
especially  of  the  feebler  sex,  whose  powers  of  digestion  and 
whose  bodily  substance  have  together  begun  to  fail.  Nor 
is  it  surprising  that  the  aged  female,  who  has  barely  enough 
of  weekly  income  to  buy  what  are  called  the  common  neces- 
saries of  life,  should  yet  spend  a portion  of  her  small  gains 
in  purchasing  her  ounce  of  tea.  She  can  live  quite  as  well 
on  less  common  food,  when  she  takes  her  tea  along  with  it ; 
while  she  feels  lighter  at  the  same  time,  more  cheerful,  and 
fitter  for  her  work,  because  of  the  indulgence. 

The  quantity  of  three  or  for  grains  of  theine,  mentioned 
above,  is  .contained  in  less  than  half  an  ounce  of  good  tea,* 
and  may  be  taken  in  a day  by  most  full-grown  persons,  with- 
out unpleasant  effects.  But  if  twice  this  quantity,  or  eight 
grains  a-day,  be  taken,  the  pulse  becomes  more  frequent,  the 
heart  beats  stronger,  trembling  comes  on,  and  a perpetual 
desire  to  void  urine.  At  the  same  time  the  imagination  is 
excited,  and,  after  a while,  the  thoughts  wander,  visions  be- 
gin to  be  seen,  and  a peculiar  state  of  intoxication  comes  on  ; 
all  these  symptoms  are  followed  by,  and  pass  off  in,  a deep 
sleep.  The  effects  of  strong  tea,  therefore, — and  especially 
of  old  teas,  and  such  as  are  peculiarly  rich  in  theine — are  to 
be  ascribed  in  great  part  to  the  overdose  of  this  substance 
which  has  been  introduced  into  the  stomach. 

3°.  The  Tannin  or  tannic  acid. — If  tea  be  infused  in 
hot  water  in  the  usual  manner,  and  the  infusion  be  poured 


* An  ounce  of  good  tea  contains  about  ten  grains  of  theine. 


THE  TANNIN  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 


145 


into  a solution  of  common  green  copperas  (sulphate  of  iron), 
the  mixture  will  become  black.  Or  if  it  be  poured  into  a 
solution  of  glue  or  isinglass  (gelatine),  it  will  render  the  so- 
lution turbid  or  muddy,  and  cause  a greyish  precipitate  to 
fall.  These  appearances  show  that  the  tea  contains  an  astrin- 
gent substance,  known  to  chemists  by  the  name  of  tannin  or 
tannic  acid.  This  substance  is  so  called,  because  it  is  the 
ingredient  which,  in  oak  bark,  is  so  generally  employed  for 
the  tanning  of  leather. 

To  this  tannic  acid  tea  owes  its  astringent  taste,  its  con- 
stipating effect  upon  the  bowels,  and  its  property  of  giving 
an  inky  infusion  with  water  which  contains  iron.  It  forms 
from  13  to  18  per  cent,  of  the  whole  weight  of  the  dried  tea- 
leaf,  and  is  the  more  completely  extracted  the  longer  the  tea 
is  infused.  The  tannic  acids,  of  which  many  varieties  are 
known  to  chemists,  though  naturally  colourless,  have  all  a 
tendency  to  become  dark*coloured  when  exposed  to  the  air. 
This  is  one  reason  why  the  same  leaves,  when  dried  quickly, 
will  give  a green , and  when  dried  more  slowly,  a black  tea, 
as  has  been  described  by  Mr.  Fortune. 

What  is  the  full  and  precise  action  of  this  tannin  uponthe 
system  as  we  drink  it  in  our  tea,  or  whether  it  contributes 
in  any  degree  to  the  exhilarating,  satisfying,  or  narcotic  action 
of  tea,  is  not  yet  known.  That  it  does  aid  even  in  the  ex- 
hilarating effect  which  tea  produces,  is  rendered  very  pro- 
bable by  the  fact,  that  a species  of  tannin  is  the  principal 
ingredient  in  the  Indian  betel-nut,  which  is  so  much  chewed 
and  prized  in  the  East,  and  which  is  said  to  produce  a kind 
of  mild  and  agreeable  intoxication.* 

4°.  The  Gluten . — The  three  substances  already  describ- 
ed may  be  considered  as  the  really  active  constituents  of  the 
tea-leaf  as  it  is  usually  employed.  But  it  is  an  interesting 


* See  The  Narcotics  we  indulge  in. 


146 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


fact>  that  the  leaf  contains  a large  proportion  of  that  nutri 
tive  ingredient  of  plants  to  which  the  name  of  gluten  * ia 
given.  This  substance  forms  as  much  as  one-fourth  of  the 
weight  of  the  dry  leaves  ; so  that  if  we  chose  to  eat  them  in 
mass,  they  would  prove  as  nutritious  as  beans  or  peas.  This 
is  seen  by  the  following  table,  which  exhibits  the  composition 
of  beans  and  of  tea-leaves  as  they  are  severally  brought  to 
market : — 


Tea-leaves. 

Beans. 

W ater,  .... 

5 

14 

Starch,  gum,  &c., 

27t 

48 

Gluten,  .... 

20  to  25 

24 

Fat, 

3 

2 

Tannic  acid, 

15t 

— 

Husk  or  woody  fibre, 

20t 

10 

Ash,  .... 

5 

2 

100 

100 

Of  this  large  per-centage  of  gluten,  the  water  in  which 
we  usually  infuse  our  tea,  extracts  very  little  ; and  hence 
we  throw  away  in  the  waste  leaves  a large  proportion  of  the 
common  nutrition  they  contain.  It  has  been  recommended, 
therefore,  as  an  improved  method  of  infusing  tea,  that  a pinch 
of  soda  should  be  put  into  the  water  along  with  it.  The  effect 
of  this  would  be,  that  a portion  at  least  of  the  gluten  would 
be  dissolved,  and  the  beverage  in  consequence  made  more 
nutritious.  The  method  of  preparing  the  brick  tea  adopted 
among  the  Mongols  and  other  Tartar  tribes,  is  believed  to 
extract  the  greater  part  of  the  nutriment  from  the  leaf. 
They  rub  the  tea  to  fine  powder,  boil  it  with  the  alkaline 
steppe-water,  to  which  salt  and  fat  have  been  added,  and 
pour  off  the  decoction  from  the  sediment.  Of  this  liquid 
they  drink  from  20  to  40  cups  a-day,  mixing  it  first  with 


* See  The  Bread  we  eat. 

t The  ingredients  marked  with  a t are  very  variable  in  quantity  in  the  tea-leaf 


MODES  OF  USING-  TEA. 


141 


milk,  butter,  and  a little  roasted  meal.  But  even  without 
meal,  and  mixed  only  with  a little  milk,  they  can  subsist 
upon  it  for  weeks  in  succession. 

The  effect  of  the  tea  in  this  way  of  using  it  seems  to  be 
twofold,  j First,  it  directly  nourishes  by  the  gluten  and  milk 
or  meal  it  contains  ; and,  second , it  makes  this  food  go  farther, 
through  the  waste-retarding  influence  of  the  theine,  which 
the  boiling  thoroughly  extracts. 

But  the  most  perfect  way  of  using  tea  is  that  described, 
I think,  by  Captain  Basil  Hall,  as  practised  on  the  coast  of 
South  America,  where  tea-leaves,  after  being  exhausted  by 
infusion,  are  handed  round  the  company  upon  a silver  salver, 
and  partaken  of  by  each  guest  in  succession.  The  exhilarat 
ing  effects  of  the  hot  liquid  are  in  this  practice  followed  by 
the  nutritive  effects  of  the  solid  leaf.  It  is  possible  that  this 
practice  may  refer  to  the  Paraguay  tea,  so  extensively  used 
in  South  America ; but  in  either  case  the  merit  of  it  is  the 
same. 

The  four  substances  above  mentioned  are  the  most  im- 
portant ingredients  of  the  tea-leaf.  It  contains  besides,  as 
is  shown  by  the  table  given  above,  a large  proportion  of  starch 
and  gum,  some  of  which  will,  of  course,  be  extracted  by  boil- 
ing water,  and  will  give  a certain  nutritive  value  to  the  in- 
fusion. Tea,  however,  varies  in  composition  with  the  mode 
of  drying,  with  the  age  of  the  plant  and  of  the  leaf,  with 
the  season  in  which  it  is  gathered,  and  even  with  the  variety 
of  shrub  on  which  it  has  grown.  Hence  the  proportion  of 
the  whole  leaf  which  is  extracted  by  boiling  water  varies 
much  both  in  kind  and  quantity.  The  genuine  green  teas, 
which  are  usually  prepared  from  the  young  leaves,  yield  more 
of  the  lighter  coloured — the  black  teas  more  of  the  darker 
coloured,  ingredients.  And  even  of  teas  of  the  same  colour 
and  name  in  the  market,  different  samples  yield  to  boiling 
water  very  different  proportions  of  soluble  matter.  Two 


148 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


samples  of  souchong,  for  example,  examined  by  Davy  and 
Lehmann,  respectively  gave,  to  boiling  water,  from  a hun- 
dred parts — 

321  parts  to  Davy, 

151  „ to  Lehmann. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  value  of  tea  as  a bever- 
age, in  so  far  as  this  depends  on  the  proportion  of  soluble 
matter  it  contains,  differs  very  much.  We  usually  judge  of 
the  quality  of  a tea  by  its  aroma,  and  by  the  flavour  and 
colour  of  the  infusion  it  yields ; and  these,  in  the  main,  are 
good  guides  : but  chemistry  indicates  that,  as  in  the  case  of 
opium,  some  weight  ought  also  to  be  attached  to  the  propor- 
tion of  soluble  ingredients  it  contains  and  readily  yields  to 
boiling  water. 

It  is  necessary  to  mention,  before  concluding  my  remarks 
upon  tea,  that,  in  addition  to  the  substances  which  it  natural- 
ly contains,  others  are  sometimes  added  by  way  of  adultera- 
tion to  the  teas  of  commerce.  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  the  green  teas,  which  are  not  all  prepared  by  simply 
drying  quickly  the  natural  leaf  as  already  described,  but  are 
often  artificially  coloured  by  the  addition  of  blue,  white  and 
yellow  colouring  substances.  Mr.  Fortune,  who  saw  the 
colouring  performed  in  China,  thus  describes  the  process : — 
“ The  superintendent  having  taken  a portion  of  Prussian 
blue,  threw  it  into  a porcelain  bowl  not  unlike  a mortar,  and 
crushed  it  into  a very  fine  powder.  At  the  same  time  a 
quantity  of  gypsum  was  burned  in  the  charcoal  fire  which 
was  then  roasting  the  tea.  This  gypsum  having  been  taken 
out  of  the  fire  after  a short  time,  readily  crumbled  down, 
and  was  reduced  to  powder  in  the  mortar.  The  two  sub- 
stances thus  prepared  were  then  mixed  together,  in  the  pro- 
portion of  four  of  gypsum  to  three  of  Prussian  blue,  and 
formed  a light  blue  powder  which  was  then  ready  for  use. 

“ This  colouring  matter  was  applied  to  the  teas  during 


ARTIFICIAL  COLOURING  OF  GREEN  TEA. 


140 


the  last  process  of  roasting.  About  five  minutes  before  the 
tea  was  removed  from  the  pans,  the  superintendent  took  a 
small  porcelain  spoon,  and  with  it  he  scattered  a portion  of 
the  colouring  matter  over  the  leaves  in  each  pan.  The  work- 
men then  turned  the  leaves  rapidly  round  with  both  hands, 
in  order  that  the  colour  might  be  equally  diffused.  To  1 4 
lbs.  of  tea  about  l oz.  of  colouring  matter  was  applied. 

“ During  this  part  of  the  operation  the  hands  of  the 
workmen  were  quite  blue.  I could  not  help  thinking  that 
if  any  green-tea  drinkers  had  been  present  during  the 
operation,  their  taste  would  have  been  corrected  and  im- 
proved. 

“ One  day  an  English  gentleman  in  Shanghae,  being  in 
conversation  with  some  Chinese  from  the  green-tea  country, 
asked  them  what  reasons  they  had  for  dyeing  the  tea,  and 
whether  it  would  not  be  better  without  undergoing  this  pro- 
cess. They  acknowledged  that  tea  was  much  better  when 
prepared  without  having  any  such  ingredients  mixed  with 
it,  and  that  they  never  drank  dyed  teas  themselves ; but 
remarked  that,  as  foreigners  seemed  to  prefer  having  a mix- 
ture of  Prussian  blue  and  gypsum  with  their  tea,  to  make  it 
look  uniform  and  pretty,  and  as  these  ingredients  were 
cheap  enough,  the  Chinese  had  no  objections  to  supply  them, 
especially  as  such  teas  always  fetched  a higher  price  ! ” * 

Mr.  Fortune  describes  the  blue  substance  employed  as 
Prussian  blue;  and  Mr.  Warrington’s  experiments!  show 
that,  until  the  last  few  years,  this  substance  was  very  gene- 
rally in  use  in  China  for  giving  an  artificial  colour  to  teas. 
More  recently,  however,  it  appears  that  indigo  has  been  sub- 
stituted, in  consequence,  probably,  of  the  injurious  effects 
which  European  writers  have  described  the  Prussian  blue 
as  likely  to  produce  on  the  constitution  of  green-tea  drinkers. 

* Fortune’s  Tea  Countries  of  China , vol.  ii.  p.  69. 

t Seo  Transactions  of  the  Chemical  Society . 


15  0 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


The  quantity  of  either  substance  employed,  however,  is  so 
minute  that,  without  justifying  the  adulteration,  I think  it 
unlikely  that  any  serious  consequences  can  have  followed 
from  it.  The  indigo  is  probably  harmless ; but  supposing 
it  to  be  Prussian  blue,  the  quantity  added  to  the  green  tea 
is  about  one  grain  to  the  ounce ; and  this  is  already  diluted 
to  a pale  tint  with  white  clay,  so  as  net  to  contain  more 
than  a third,  or  probably  a fourth,  of  a grain  of  pure  Prus- 
sian blue.  This  quantity  in  an  ounce  of  tea  is,  I think,  but 
little  to  be  dreaded  ; nevertheless  the  practice  ought  to  be 
discouraged  and  abandoned.* 

Less  doubt  exists  as  to  the  pernicious  qualities  of  an 
adulterated  tea  largely  manufactured  by  the  Chinese  under 
the  name  of  Lie  tea.  This  consists  of  the  sweepings  and 
dust  of  the  tea-warehouses  cemented  together  with  rice- 
water  and  rolled  into  grains.  It  is  made  either  black  to 
imitate  caper,  or  green  to  resemble  gunpowder,  and  is  manu- 
factured professedly  for  the  purpose  of  adulterating  the  better 
kinds  of  tea. 

Genuine  tea  yields  only  5 or  6 per  cent,  of  ash  when 
burned,  being  the  proportion  of  mineral  matter  naturally 
contained  in  the  leaf.  The  lie  teas  leave  from  37  to  45  per 
cent,  of  ash,  consisting  chiefly  of  sand  and  other  impurities. 
These  adulterated  teas  are  imported  into  this  country  to 
the  extent  of  half  a million  pounds’  weight  every  year ! 
In  this,  as  in  similar  cases,  the  poorest  classes,  who  can 
least  afford  it,  are  the  greatest  sufferers  from  the  fraudulent 

* It  is  easy  to  determine  whether  indigo  or  Prussian  blue  is  the  colouring  matter 
of  these  adulterated  teas.  If  a portion  of  the  tea  be  shaken  with  cold  water  and 
thrown  upon  a bit  of  thin  muslin,  the  fine  colouring  matter  will  pass  through  the 
muslin,  and  settle  to  the  bottom  of  the  water.  When  the  water  is  poured  off,  the 
blue  matter  may  be  treated  with  chlorine  or  a solution  of  chloride  of  lime.  It 
it  is  bleached,  the  colouring  matter  is  indigo.  If  potash  makes  it  brown,  and 
afterwards  a few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid  make  it  blue  again,  it  is  Prussian  blue. 


MATE,  OR  PARAGUAY  TEA. 


151 


Fig.  30. 


introduction  of  the  lieing  mixture  into  the  teas  they  buy 
Among  the  low  dealers  the  lie  tea  is  known  by  the  name  of 
dust  and  gum. 

2°.  Mate,  or  Paraguay  tea,  though  not  used  over  so 
large  an  area  as  the  Chinese  tea,  is  as  much  the  passion  of 
the  Brazilians  and  their  neigh- 
bours, in  Southern  America,  as 
the  latter  is  of  the  nations  of 
north-eastern  Asia.  It  is  pre- 
pared from  the  dried  leaves  of 
Brazilian  holly  ( Ilex  Paragua - 
yensis ), — (fig.  30) — is  said  to 
have  been  in  use  among  the  In- 
dians from  time  immemorial, — has 
been  drunk  by  all  classes  in  Pa- 
raguay since  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  is  now 
consumed  by  “ almost  the  whole 
population  of  South  America.” 

The  leaf  of  this  tree  is  4 or  5 
inches  long,  and  after  being  dried 
it  is  rubbed  to  powder  before  it 

. . „ , i . i i « i Ilex  Puraffuayemis-Tsiragimy  holly 

is  infused.  The  dried  leaf  has  (Paraguay  Tea-plant.) 

much  of  the  aroma  of  some  varie- 
ties of  Chinese  tea,  and  the  infu- 
sion has  a pleasant  odour,  and  an  agreeable  bitter  taste.  Ii 
the  state  in  which  it  is  commonly  used  in  South  America, 
it  is  more  exciting  than  China  tea,  producing  a kind  of 
intoxication,  and  by  excessive  use  leading  even  to  delirium 
tremens. 

The  tree  which  yields  the  Y erba  (or  plant  par  excellence ), 
as  this  tea  is  called,  does  not  appear  to  be  an  object  of  cul- 
ture. It  grows  spontaneously,  in  extensive  natural  planta- 


Scale,  1 inch  to  10  feet. 
Scale  for  leaf,  1 inch  to  4 inchos. 


152 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


tions,  amid  the  forests  of  Paraguay.  The  principal  Yerbals, 
or  woods  of  this  tree,  are  situated  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a 
small  town  called  Villa-Real,  about  fifteen  hundred  miles 
above  Assumption,  on  the  Paraguay  river.  They  are  scat- 
tered about,  however,  in  various  other  localities  upon  the 
rich  tract  of  country  which  extends  between  the  rivers  Pa- 
rana and  Uruguay.  Permission  to  gather  the  leaves  is 
granted  by  the  government  to  certain  merchants,  in  return 
for  a considerable  money  payment.  These  merchants  fit  out 
parties  of  men,  chiefly  Indians,  for  the  purpose  of  collect- 
ing the  Yerba,  and  at  the  proper  season  proceed  to  the  forests. 
When  in  the  course  of  their  journey  they  come  to  a Yerbal, 
or  growth  of  mate  trees,  sufficiently  extensive  to  make  it 
worth  while  to  halt  and  collect  the  leaves,  they  begin  by  con- 
structing a long  line  of  wigwams,  which  they  cover  with  the 
broad  leaves  of  the  banana  and  palm.  Under  these  they 
expect  to  pass  nearly  six  months.  An  open  space  is  then 
prepared,  of  which  the  soil  is  beaten  with  heavy  mallets  un- 
til it  becomes  hard  and  smooth.  Over  this  is  erected  a kind 
of  arch,  made  of  hurdles,  called  a Barbagua , upon  which 
the  Yerba  branches  are  placed.  Beneath  these  a large  fire 
is  kept  up  till  the  foliage  is  thoroughly  dried  and  roasted, 
without  being  scorched  or  suffered  to  ignite.  The  hard  floor 
is  then  swept  clean,  the  dried  branches  are  laid  upon  it,  and 
the  now  brittle  leaves  beaten  off  with  sticks,  which  partly 
reduce  them  to  powder.  They  are  then  crammed  and  beaten 
into  sacks  made  of  damp  hides,  which,  when  sewed  up  and 
left  to  dry,  become  in  a few  days  as  hard  as  stone.  In  these 
sacks,  weighing  about  200  lb.,  the  mate  is  well*  preserved. 
The  labour  of  collecting  the  Yerba,  in  the  midst  of  these 
tropical  forests,  is  very  severe,  and  it  is  said  to  have  been 
very  fatal  to  Indian  life.  Many  of  the  Creoles  and  Mestizos 
even  assert  that  the  Paraguayans  have  exterminated  the 


VARIETIES  AND  CONSUMPTION  OF  MATE.  153 

poor  Indians  by  compelling  them  to  the  labour  of  collecting 
this  plant. 

From  the  smallest  shrubs  the  finest  tea  is  obtained ; but 
from  the  same  kind  of  leaves  different  qualities  are  procured, 
according  to  the  mode  of  preparation,  and  the  kind  of 
weather  which  prevails.  Three  principal  kinds,  however, 
are  prepared  and  sold  in  South  America  under  the  names 
of  caa-cuys,  caa-miri,  and  caa-guaza — the  prefix  caa  signify 
ing  the  leaf  itself.  The  first  is  prepared  from  the  half- 
expanded-  buds  : it  will  not  keep,  and  its  consumption  is 
entirely  confined  to  Paraguay.  The  second , from  the  leaf 
carefully  picked  and  stripped  from  the  nerves  before  roast- 
ing, as  was  done  by  the  Jesuits.  And  the  third , from  the 
entire  foliage,  roasted  as  above  described,  without  any  pre- 
paration. The  two  latter  varieties  are  not  only  used  largely 
in  the  country  of  Paraguay,  but  are  exported  as  far  as  Lima 
and  Quito. — (Hooker.) 

We  have  no  data  from  which  to  calculate  the  total 
amount  of  mate  consumed  either  in  the  whole  of  South 
America  or  in  Paraguay  alone.  But  it  must  be  very  large, 
since  the  quantity  exported  from  the  latter  country  is  about 
50,000  quintals,  or  5,600,000  lb.  a-year.  It  loses  in  virtue 
and  flavour,  however,  and  its  aromatic  bitterness  diminishes 
by  exportation  and  keeping,  so  that  the  infusion  is  drunk  in 
perfection  only  on  the  spot  where  the  leaves  are  gathered  and 
newly  dried. 

In  Brazil,  a variety  of  mate  called  Gongonha  is  in  use. 
It  is  prepared  from  the  leaves  of  two  other  species  of  holly, 
the  Ilex  gongonha  and  the  Ilex  theezans ; but  I do  not 
know  to  what  extent.  In  Chili  also,  a tea  called  Paraguay 
tea,  but  different  from  the  mate,  is  prepared  from  the 
leaves  of  the  Psoralea  glandulosa , and  in  Central  America 
another  variety  from  those  of  the  Gapraria  bilora. 


154 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


The  use  of  the  mate  is  very  frequent,  as  well  as  verj 
Flg  81  universal  in  South  America.  At 

every  meal,  and  at  every  hour  of 
the  day,  it  is  drunk.  It  has 
acquired  the  name  of  Mate  from 
that  of  the  vessel  or  cup  in 
which  it  is  infused,  and  from 
which  it  is  drunk.  Hot  water  is 
poured  upon  the  powdered  leaf, 
then  a lump  of  burned  sugar,  and 
sometimes  a few  drops  of  lemon 
juice  are  added.  The  infusion  is 
sucked  through  a tube,  bomlilla , 
often  made  of  silver,  which  is  open 
at  one  end,  and  has  a perforated 
bulb  or  strainer  at  the  other  (fig. 
31).  The  cup  is  passed  from 
hand  to  hand,  the  same  cup,  and 
often  the  same  tube,  serving  a 
whole  party.  The  leaves  will 
bear  to  be  steeped  or  watered  three  times,  and  the  infusion 
is  drunk  off  quickly,  as  it  soon  becomes  black  if  allowed  to 
stand. 

“ Persons  who  are  fond  of  mate  consume  about  an  ounce 
a-day.  In  the  mining  districts  it  is  most  universally  taken, 
experience  having  shown  that  fermented  liquors  are  there 
prejudicial  to  health.*  The  Creoles  in  South  America  are 
passionately  fond  of  the  beverage,  and  never  travel  without 
a supply  of  the  leaf,  which  they  infuse  before  every  meal, 
and  sometimes  much  oftener,  never  tasting  food  unless  they 
have  first  drunk  their  mat  A”  f 


Mat6  or  cup,  and 
Bombilla  or  tube. 


* A maxim  of  the  Jesuits  was,  “ Enpais  caliente,  aguardiente  ; m pais  frio\ 
tgua  frio  ” — in  the  warm  country,  brandy ; in  the  cold  country,  water, 
t Hooker’s  London  Journal  of  Botany , vol.  i.  p.  39. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  EFFECTS  OF  MATE. 


155 


Numerous  virtues  are  ascribed  to  this  favourite  beve 
rage.  It  possesses  many  of  the  good  qualities  of  our  Chi- 
nese tea,  while,  like  opium,  it  is  said  to  calm  the  restless,  and 
to  arouse  the  torpid.  As  is  the  case  with  opium  also,  the 
habit  of  using  it  becomes  a kind  of  second  nature,  so  that  to 
give  it  up,  or  even  to  diminish  the  customary  quantity,  is 
almost  impossible.  On  the  other  hand,  long  indulgence,  or 
an  immoderate  consumption  of  it,  is  apt  to  induce  diseases 
similar  to  those  which  follow  the  excessive  use  of  ardent 
spirits.  It  differs  both  from  Chinese  tea  and  from  opium  in 
acting  upon  the  kidneys  and  moving  the  bowels. 

The  chemistry  of  the  mate  leaf  is  but  imperfectly  under- 
stood. From  being  rarely  met  with  in  Europe,  it  has  not 
been  much  examined  by  chemists,  yet  we  are  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  its  constituents  to  be  able  to 
account  for  its  most  striking  effects.  Thus — 

First , — Like  Chinese  tea,  it  contains  a volatile  oil, 
which  is  produced  during  the  roasting  of  the  leaf,  gives  it  a 
peculiar,  agreeable  aroma,  gradually  escapes  from  it  by 
keeping,  and  upon  which  a portion  of  its  narcotic  virtue  de- 
pends. This  is  shown  by  the  facts  already  stated,  that  the 
tea  becomes  less  valuable  when  long  kept,  or  carried  to 
great  distances,  and  that  it  is  only  drunk  in  perfection  near 
the  Yerbal,  where  it  is  collected  and  prepared. 

Second , — Dr.  Stenhouse  has  shown  that  this  leaf  also 
contains  theine,  the  vegetable  principle  which  we  have  de- 
scribed as  existing  in  Chinese  tea,  and  as  producing  remark- 
able effects  upon  the  system  when  introduced  into  the  sto- 
mach. The  proportion,  however,  is  somewhat  less  than  in 
Chinese  tea,  amounting  in  the  varieties  hitherto  examined 
in  Europe,  to  about  1^  per  cent. 

Third , — Paraguay  tea  contains  a large  proportion  of  a 
peculiar,  astringent  acid,  analogous  to  the  tannin  or  tannio 
acid.  For  this  reason,  the  fresh  leaves  are  used  in  Brazil 


156 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


by  the  dyers.  It  is  probably  the  presence  of  this  substance 
in  the  infusion  which  causes  it  to  blacken  so  rapidly  when 
exposed  to  the  air,  and  makes  it  necessary  to  drink  it  off  as 
soon  as  it  is  made.  Were  it  poured  out  into  cups,  as  is 
done  with  Chinese  tea,  the  liquid  would  become  black  and 
repulsive  before  the  eyes  of  the  drinker.  Hence  the  reason 
for  the  peculiar  mode  of  sucking  it  through  a tube,  which  is 
practised  in  South  America,  and  which  at  first  seems  so 
peculiar  to  Europeans.  And, — 

Lastly , — Like  the  Chinese  leaf,  it  contains  also  nutri- 
tious gluten.  Of  this  substance  about  10  per  cent,  is  pre- 
sent in  the  dried  mate,  of  which  only  a small  proportion 
dissolves  when  the  tea  is  infused.  The  benefit  of  this  ingre- 
dient, .therefore,  is  experienced  only  where  the  infused  leaf 
is  subsequently  eaten,  as  is  the  case,  it  is  said,  in  some  parts 
of  South  America. 

An  exact  analysis  of  Paraguay  tea  has  not  yet  been 
made,  so  that  we  are  still  in  the  dark  as  to  its  precise  com- 
position ; but  it  is  both  interesting  and  remarkable  to  find, 
so  far,  a great  similarity  between  the  Chinese  and  the 
South  American  leaf.  Both  contain  the  same  active  ingre- 
dients, and  both,  though  belonging  to  very  different  tribes 
of  plants,  have  been  selected  to  serve  the  same  remarkable 
physiological  purposes.  How  came  tribes  so  remote,  and  so 
little  civilized,  to  stumble  upon  this  happy  selection  ? 

3°.  Coffee-tea. — Attention  has  lately  been  drawn  to 
the  use  of  the  leaf  of  the  coffee-tree  as  a substitute  for  that 
of  the  tea- tree.  In  1845  Professor  Blume  of  Leyden,  who 
had  travelled  much  in  J ava,  made  known  in  Holland  that 
this  leaf  was  so  used  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  and  re- 
commended it  for  use  in  Europe.  Subsequently  it  was 
made  known  in  this  country  by  Professor  Brand;  * and  at 
the  Great  Exhibition  in  1851,  Dr.  Gardner  showed  sped 


* Chemistry,  p.  108. 


COFFEE-TEA. 


157 


mens  of  prepared  coffee-leaves,  announced  at  the  same  time 
that  they  contained  theme,  and  suggested  that  they  should 
be  substituted  for  our  ordinary  tea. 

These,  along  with  other  circumstances,  have  drawn  the 
attention  of  Eastern  merchants  to  the  subject,  and  it  appears 
from  various  communications  which  have  recently  been  made 
public,  that  the  use  of  coffee-leaves  in  this  way  is  an  old 
practice  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago.  In  the  Dutch  island 
of  Sumatra  especially,  prepared  coffee-leaves  form  “ the  only 
beverage  of  the  whole  population,  and,  from  their  nutritive 
qualities,  have  become  an  important  necessary  of  life.5’ 

The  leaves  are  roasted  over  a clear,  smokeless,  bamboo 
fire,  till  they  become  of  a brownish-buff  colour.  They  are 
then  separated  from  the  twigs,  the  bark  of  which,  after  a 
second  roasting,  is  rubbed  off  and  used  along  with  the 
leaves.  In  this  state  they  have  an  extremely  fragrant 
odour,  resembling  that  of  a mixture  of  tea  and  coffee. 
When  immersed  in  boiling  water,  they  give  a clear  brown 
infusion,  which,  with  sugar  and  cream,  forms  an  agreeable 
beverage.  Mr.  Ward,  who  has  been  many  years  settled  at 
Pedang  in  Sumatra,  thus  narrates  his  experience  in  regard 
to  the  use  of  the  coffee-leaf  in  that  island  : — 

“ The  natives  have  a prejudice  against  the  use  of  water 
as  a beverage,  asserting  that  it  does  not  quench  thirst,  or 
afford  the  strength  and  support  the  coffee-leaf  does.  With  a 
little  boiled  rice  and  infusion  of  the  coffee-leaf,  a man  will 
support  the  labours  of  the  field  in  rice-planting  for  days  and 
weeks  successively,  up  to  the  knees  in  mud,  under  a burning 
sun  or  drenching  rain,  which  he  could  not  do  by  the  use  of 
simple  water,  or  by  the  aid  of  spirituous  or  fermented 
liquors.  I have  had  the  opportunity  of  observing  for  twenty 
years  the  comparative  use  of  the  coffee-leaf  in  one  class  of 
natives,  and  of  spirituous  liquors  in  another — the  native  Su- 
matrans using  the  former,  and  the  natives  of  British  India 


158 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


settled  here,  the  latter  ; and  I find  that,  while  the  former 
expose  themselves  with  impunity  to  every  degree  of  heat, 
cold,  and  wet,  the  latter  can  endure  neither  wet  nor  cold  for 
even  a short  period,  without  danger  to  their  health. 

“ Engaged  myself  in  agriculture,  and  being  in  conse- 
quence much  exposed  to  the  weather,  I was  induced  several 
years  ago,  from  an  occasional  use  of  the  coffee-leaf,  to  adopt 
it  as  a daily  beverage,  and  my  constant  practice  has  been  to 
take  two  cups  of  a strong  infusion,  with  milk,  in  the  even- 
ing, as  a restorative  after  the  business  of  the  day.  I find 
from  it  immediate  relief  from  hunger  and  fatigue.  The 
bodily  strength  is  increased,  and  the  mind  left  for  the  even- 
ing clear  and  in  full  possession  of  its  faculties.  On  its  first 
use,  and  when  the  leaf  has  not  been  sufficiently  roasted,  it  is 
said  to  produce  vigilance  ; but  I am  inclined  to  think  that, 
where  this  is  the  case,  it  is  rather  by  adding  strength  and 
activity  to  the  mental  faculties,  than  by  inducing  nervous 
excitement.  I do  not  recollect  this  effect  on  myself  except 
once,  and  that  was  when  the  leaf  was  insufficiently  roasted. 

“As  a beverage  the  natives  universally  prefer  the  leaf  to 
the  berry,  giving  as  a reason  that  it  contains  more  of  the 
bitter  principle,  and  is  more  nutritious.  In  the  lowlands, 
coffee  is  not  planted  for  the  berry,  not  being  sufficiently  pro- 
ductive ; but,  for  the  leaf,  the  people  plant  it  round  their 
houses  for  their  own  use.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that 
everywhere  they  prefer  the  leaf  to  the  berry.”* 

He  adds  further,  that  while  the  culture  of  the  coffee 
plant,  for  its  fruit,  is  limited  to  particular  soils  and  more 
elevated  climates,  it  may  be  grown  for  the  leaf  wherever , 
within  the  tropics , the  soil  is  sufficiently  fertile.  This  is  a 
very  important  fact,  and,  should  the  leaf  come  into  general 
use,  will  no  doubt  lead  to  the  introduction  of  new  forms  of 


Pharmaceutical  Journal , voL  xiii,  p.  20S. 


CONSTITUENTS  OF  THE  COFFEE-LEAF. 


159 


husbandry  in  many  tropical  regions,  from  which  the  coffee- 
tree,  as  a profitable  article  of  culture,  has  been  hitherto 
excluded.  The  Brazilian  government  is  said  to  be  directing 
its  attention  to  the  subject,  and  shipments  of  prepared  cof- 
fee-leaves are  announced  to  have  been  already  made  from 
that  country  to  Europe.  At  present  the  price  of  prepared 
leaves  in  Sumatra  is  about  l^d.  a pound;  and  they  may  be 
packed  of  good  quality,  for  the  European  market,  for  2d. 
a-pound. 

In  regard  to  the  constituents  of  the  dried  coffee-leaf,  the 
agreeable  aroma  emitted  shows  that,  like  Chinese  tea,  it 
contains  a volatile  oil,  which  will  probably  act  upon  the  sys- 
tem like  the  similar  oils  of  tea  and  coffee.  It  has  been 
proved  also  to  contain  theine  to  the  extent  of  1 J per  cent. — 
(Stenhouse) — and  an  astringent  acid  closely  resembling  that 
which  is  found  in  Paraguay  tea.  Both  of  these  are  present 
in  it  in  larger  proportion  than  in  the  coffee-bean  ; and  hence, 
probably,  the  reason  why  the  leaf  is  preferred  to  the  bean  by 
the  natives  of  Sumatra.  These,  with  about  13  per  cent,  of 
gluten  and  some  gum,  are  all  the  ingredients  yet  found  in 
the  leaf.  But  the  presence  of  these  substances  proves  it  to 
be  so  similar  to  the  tea-leaf  in  composition,  as  to  lead  to  the 
belief  that  it  may  be  successfully  substituted  in  common  use 
for  the  Chinese  tea.  And  this  conclusion  is  supported  by 
the  wakefulness  which  is  said  to  be  produced  by  the  infusion 
of  coffee-leaves,  and  by  the  bodily  refreshment  it  is  found 
to  yield,  by  the  directly  nutritive  power  which  the  leaves 
possess,  and  by  the  general  favour  they  have  found  in  the 
estimation  of  the  people  of  Sumatra. 

To  boiling  water  the  dried  coffee-leaves  yield  about  39 
per  cent,  of  their  weight — as  much  as  is  taken  up  by  water 
from  the  most  soluble  varieties  of  the  coffee-bean,  and  more 
than  is  yielded  by  Chinese  tea.  In  this  property,  therefore, 
the  leaf  of  the  coffee-tree  is  also  equal  to  the  bean. 


160 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


4°.  Labrador  tea  is  the  name  given  in  North  America 
to  the  dried  leaves  of  the  Ledum  jpalustre  and  the  Ledum 
latifolium  (fig.  32).  These  plants  grow  on  the  borders  of 
the  swamps,  and  along  the  heathy  shores  of  the  mountain 
lakes  in  the  colder  regions  of  that  continent.  The  leaves  are 
gathered  and  used  in  the  stead  of  Chinese  tea — the  narrower 
leaved  plant  (L.  jpalustre'),  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Richardson,  giving  tea 
of  the  better  quality.  Both  varie- 
ties are  very  astringent,  and  possess 
a narcotic,  soothing,  and  exhilarat- 
ing quality.  This  latter  is  so 
strong  that  in  the  north  of  Europe 
( Sweden  and  Germany ) these 
plants  are  secretly  emplo}red  by 
fraudulent  brewers  to  give  headi- 
ness to  beer.  They  have  not  been 
examined  chemically ; but  from  the 
above  facts  we  may  infer  that,  be- 
sides a variety  of  tannin,  to  which 
they  owe  their  astringency,  they 
contain  an  active  narcotic  principle, 
more  powerful,  probably,  than  the 
dum,  or  Labrador  Tea.  theme  oi  the  tea-leaf,  to  which  their 
The  undermost  flower  and  leaf  re- pecu^arj  exhilarating,  and  stupefy  - 

Ledum  latifolium — The  Labrador  ing  effects  are  due.  It  is  possible 
Tea,  or  broad-leaved  Ledum.  aj  that  in  the  Cold  northern 
Scale,  1 inch  to  2 feet  1 iti 

Leaves  and  flowers  nearly  natural  climates  ot  Sweden  and  Labrador 

size*  the  effects  of  such  a narcotic  sub- 

stance may  be  less  sensibly  felt  than  under  our  milder  skies. 

5°.  Abyssinian  tea,  called  in  its  native  country  Khat  or 
Chaat,  is  very  extensively  cultivated  in  Shoa  and  the  adjoin- 
ing regions,  and  is  in  general  use  among  the  inhabitants, 
just  as  tea  is  in  China.  It  consists  of  the  dried  leaves  of 
the  Catha  edulis , a species  of  small  tree  which  is  allied  to 


ABYSSINIAN  TEA 


161 


the  Sageretia  theezans , from  which  the  poorer  classes  of 
Chinese  prepare  an  inferior  kind  of  tea.  In  a light  gravelly 
soil  the  plant  attains  a height  of  12  feet.  The  leaves  are 
plucked  in  the  dry  season,  and  well  dried  in  the  sun.  In 
Abyssinia  they  sell  at  Id.  or  2d.  a-pound.*  They  are  either 
chewed,  boiled  in  milk,  or  infused  in  boiling  water,  and,  by 
the  addition  of  honey,  yield  a pleasant  beverage.  They 
have  much  resemblance  to  Chinese  tea,  both  in  their  quali- 
ties and  their  effects.  They  are  bitter  to  the  taste,  possess 
exhilarating  properties,  and  dispel  sleep  if  used  to  excess. 

The  leaves  of  this  plant  are  also  used  green.  Forskall 
states  that  the  Arabs  eat  them  green  because  of  their  pro- 
perty of  preventing  sleep.  To  such  a degree  do  they  exhi- 
bit this  influence,  that  a man  who  chews  them  may  stand 
sentry  all  night  without  feeling  drowsiness.  They  are  also 
regarded  as  an  antidote  to  the  plague ; and  the  Arabs 
believe  that  the  plague  cannot  appear  in  places  where  the 
tree  is  cultivated.  Botta  adds  to  these  qualities  that,  when 
fresh,  the  leaves  are  very  intoxicating.! 

This  North  African  tea  appears  to  be  very  extensively 
cultivated  and  used,  though  less  so  now  than  in  ancient 
times;  b^t  we  have  no  means  of  estimating  the  absolute 
quantity  which  is  grown  and  consumed.  We  are  entirely 
ignorant,  also,  I believe,  of  its  exact  chemical  history,  and 
do  not  yet  know  whether  it  belongs  to  the  class  of  plants 
in  which  theine  exists.  Its  relation  to  the  Sageretia  thee- 
zans of  China  renders  this  not  unlikely. 

Many  other  plants,  of  which  the  chemistry  is  unknown, 
are  used  in  various  countries  as  more  or  less  perfect  substi- 
tutes for  Chinese  tea.  Thus,  the  name 

' Tasmanian  tea  is  given  to  the  dried  leaves  of  various  spe- 

* Harris — Highlands  of  Ethiopia , vol.  ii.  p.  423. 
t Lindley—  Vegetable  Kingdom , p.  587. 


162 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


cies  of  Melaleuca  and  Leptospermum,  belonging  to  the  ordei 
of  the  Myrtaceae,  which  are  collected  in  Australia,  and  used 
by  the  colonists  instead  of  Chinese  tea.  These  trees  are 
commonly  called  tea-trees,  and  the  large  tracts  of  country 
which  are  covered  with  them,  tea-tree  flats . The  leaves  of 
various  species  of  Correa  also,  whidi  belong  to  the  Rutaceae, 
and  especially  of  the  Correa  alba , are  collected  and  used  for 
the  same  purpose.  The  leaves  of  Accena  sanguisorba , a 
plant  allied  to  the  Rosaceae,  and  which  abounds  everywhere 
in  Tasmania,  are  said  to  be  an  excellent  substitute  for  tea. 
In  the  same  eastern  region  the  leaves  of  the  Glaphyria 
nitida , another  of  the  Myrtaceae — called  by  the  Malays  the 
Tree  of  Long  Life,  affords  at  Bencoolen,  in  Sumatra,  a sub- 
stitute for  tea. 

Faham  tea , again,  is  the  name  given  in  Mauritius  to 
the  dried  leaves  of  the  Angrcecum  fragrans — a fragrant 
orchid.  The  infusion  of  these  leaves  is  exceedingly  plea- 
sant to  the  smell,  and  is  drunk  to  promote  digestion,  and  in 
certain  diseases  of  the  lungs.  Its  fragrance  is  owing  to  the 
presence  of  coumarin , the  odoriferous  principle  of  the  Tonka 
bean  and  of  mellilot,  described  in  a subsequent  chapter.* 
The  leaf  does  not  contain  theine,  and  it  is  not  therefore  to 
be  classed  in  its  virtues  and  uses  with  the  Chinese  and  Para- 
guay teas. 

Besides  all  these  we  have  North  American  substitutes 
for  the  China  leaf,  distinguished  by  the  names  of  Appala- 
chian tea,  Oswego  tea,  Mountain  tea,  and  New  Jersey  tea. 
We  have  a Mexican  tea,  a Brazilian  tea, — the  aromatic 
Capitad  da  matto , — a Santa  Fe  tea,  an  Indian,  Toolsie  tea 
and  many  others.  Of  the  chemistry  of  all  these  substitutes 
we  know  next  to  nothing.  I have  therefore  embodied  in  the 
following  table  nearly  all  the  information  we  possess  regard- 
ing them : — 


* See  Tiie  Odours  we  enjoy 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  CHINESE  TEA, 


163 


LIST  OF  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  CHINESE  TEA  AND  MAT& 


Name  of  the  Plant. 


Natural  order. 


Where  collected  and 
used. 


Name  given  to  it 


Hydrangea  thun- 
bergii,  . 
Sageretia  theezans, 
Ocymum  album, 
Catha  edulis, . 


Glapbyria  nitida, 

Correa  alba,  . 

Acaena  sanguis-  ) 
orba,  . . f 

Leptospermum  | 
scoparium,  and  > 
L.  thea,  . . j 

Melaleuca  scopa-  f 
ria,  and  M.  ge-  V 
nistifolia,  . . ) 

Myrtus  ugni, 
Psoralea  glandulosa, 
Alstonia  theaformis, 
Capraria  biflora, 
Lantana  pseudothea, 
Chenopodium  am-  / 
brosioides,  . i 

Viburnum  cassi-  } 
noides,  . . J 

Prinos  glaber, 
Ceanothus  Ameri-  | 
canus,  . . f 

Gaultheria  pro-  | 

cumbens,  . f 

Ledum  palustre,  ) 

Ledum  latifolium,  f 
Monarda  didyma,  } 
M.  purpurea,  . 1 

Angraecum  frag-  \ 
rans,  . . ) 

Micromeria  thea- 
sinensis,  . 
Stachytarpheta 
jamaicensis, 
Prunus  spinosa,  *] 
a mixed  with  | 
Fragaria  collina, 
or  F.  vesca,  . J 

Salvia  officinalis, 


Hydrangeaceae. 

Rhamnaceae. 

Labiatae. 

Celastraceae. 

Myrtaeeae. 

Rutaceae. 

Sanguisorbiacete. 

Myrtaeeae. 

Myrtaeeae. 

Myrtaeeae. 

Leguminosae. 

Styracaceae. 

Scrophulariaceae. 

Verbenaceae. 

Chenopodiaceae. 

Caprifoliaceae. 

Aquifoliaceae. 

Rhamnaceae. 

Ericaceae. 

Ericaceae. 

Labiatae. 

Orchidiaceae. 

Labiatae. 

Verbenaceae. 

Drupaceae. 

Rosaceae. 

Labiatae. 


Japan. 

China. 
India. 
Abyssinia. 
Bencoolen 
(flowers  used). 
New  Holland. 

Do. 

Do. 


( Ama  tsja  or  Tea  of 
( Heaven. 

? 

Toolsie  tea. 
Khat  or  Chaat. 
Tea-plant  and  Tree 
of  Long  Life. 


Tea  plants,  and 
Tasmanian  tea. 


Do. 

Chili. 

Do. 

New  Granada. 
Central  America. 
Brazil. 

J Mexico  and  ) 
i Columbia  f 
North  America.  (_ 
Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Mauritius. 
France. 
Austria. 

Northern 
Europe. 

Do. 


Substitutes  for 
Paraguay  tea. 
Santa  Fe  tea 

f 

Capitao  da  matto. 
Mexican  tea. 


Appalachian  tea 

New  Jersey  tea 
(medicinal)'. 

Mountain  tea. 
Labrador  tea,  or 
James’  tea 
Oswego  tea 

Bourbon  or  Fa- 
ham  tea 

? 

Brazilian  tea. 

"Sloe  and  Strawberry 
tea,  one  of  our  best 
substitutes  for 
Chinese  tea 
Sage  tea 


I pass  over  numerous  other  plants  which  in  Europe 
have  been  tried  as  substitutes  for  tea,  without,  however, 
coming  into  any  general  use,  except  here  and  there  as  adul- 
terations. It  is  possible  that  some  of  those  above  mention* 


164 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


ed  may  hereafter  be  discovered  to  contain  the  theine  and 
other  valuable  constituents  of  the  true  tea-leaf,  and  may  be 
both  cultivated  and  advantageously  used  in  its  stead.  As  an 
adulteration,  the  leaves  of  Epilobium  angustifolium  are 
sometimes  mixed  with  tea  to  the  amount  of  25  per  cent. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 

THE  COFFEES. 

toffee  used  in  Abyssinia  from  time  immemorial — Its  introduction  into  Europe— 
Consumption  in  the  United  Kingdom,  in  Europe,  and  in  the  whole  world — Varie- 
ties of  coffee,  and  prices  in  the  London  market— Effects  of  the  infusion  of  coffee— 
It  exalts  the  nervous  life,  and  lessens  the  waste  of  the  system — Constituents  of 
coffee— The  volatile  oil,  its  production,  mercantile  value,  and  effects  on  tho 
system — The  tannic  acid,  the  theine  or  caffeine,  and  the  gluten — Composition 
of  tea  and  coffee  compared — Loss  of  weight  in  roasting  coffee — Proportion  of  the 
roasted  bean  taken  up  by  water  very  variable— Substitutes  for  coffee — Seeds  of 
the  water-iris,  of  the  Turkish  kenguel,  of  the  roasted  acorn,  of  roasted  corn 
and  pulse,  of  roasted  roots,  and  especially  of  chicory — The  chicory  plant  and 
root — How  the  root  is  prepared  for  use — Gives  a fictitious  appearance  of  strength 
to  coffee — Active  ingredients  in  chicory — The  empyreumatic  oil,  and  the  bitter 
principle— Its  effects  on  the  system — Mode  of  detecting  chicory  in  coffee — Adul- 
terations of  chicory. 

II.  The  Coffees. — The  name  of  coffee  is  given  to  a 
beverage  prepared  from  the  seeds  of  plants  roasted,  ground, 
and  infused  in  boiling  water.  The  seeds  of  the  Arabian 
coffee-tree  are  most  largely  used  for  this  purpose,  but 
various  other  seeds  are  more  or  less  extensively  employed  in 
a similar  way. 

1°.  Arabian  coffee. — The  tree  which  produces  this 
geed  is  said  to  be  indigenous  to  the  countries  of  Enarea  and 
Caffa  in  southern  Abyssinia.  In  these  districts  the  coffee- 
tree  grows  like  a wild  weed  over  the  rocky  surface  of  the 
country.  The  roasted  seed  or  bean  has  also  been  in  use  as 


166 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


a beverage  in  Abyssinia  generally,  from  time  immemorial, 
and  is  at  the  present  day  extensively  cultivated  in  that 
country.  In  Persia  it  is  known  to  have  been  in  use  as  early 
as  the  year  875.  From  Abyssinia  it  was  introduced  into 
Arabia  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it 
partly  superseded  the  older  chaat,  or  Abyssinian  tea.  Abcut 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  it  began  to  be  used  in 
Constantinople,  and  in  spite  of  the  violent  opposition  of 
the  priests,  became  an  article  of  general  consumption.  In 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  (1652),  the  first 
coffee-house  was  opened  in  London  by  a Greek  named  Pas- 
qua;  and  twenty  years  after,  the  first  was  established  in 
Marseilles.  Since  that  time  both  the  culture  and  consumption 
of  coffee  have  continually  extended.  It  has  become  the  staple 
produce  of  important  colonies,  and  the  daily  and  most  cherish- 
ed drink  of  probably  more  than  a hundred  millions  of  men  ! 

The  consumption  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  1852  amount- 
ed to  35  millions  of  pounds,  of  which  upwards  of  20  millions 
were  brought  from  Ceylon,  4 millions  from  Jamaica,  and  8 
millions  from  Costa  Rica  and  Brazil.  On  the  Continent  it 
is  much  more  generally  used  than  among  ourselves.  The 
total  European  consumption  was  estimated  a few  years  ago 
at  75  thousand  tons,  or  168  millions,  of  pounds,  valued  at 
4£  millions  sterling.  It  probably  approaches  now  to  200 
millions  of  pounds.  The  entire  weight  of  coffee  raised  over 
the  whole  world  is  guessed  at  about  600  millions  of  pounds. 

The  quality  of  raw  coffee  does  not  appear  to  depend  so 
much  on  the  mode  of  collecting  and  drying  it  as  that  of  tea 
does.  Soil  $,nd  climate  are  the  circumstances  which  chiefly 
affect  its  commercial  value.  The  flavour  and  quality  of  the 
beverage  prepared  from  it  depend  very  much,  however,  upon 
the  manner  of  roasting  the  bean,  and  of  subsequently  prepar- 
ing the  infusion. 

In  the  London  market  the  coffees  of  different  countries 
are  arranged,  as  to  quality  and  price,  in  the  following  order. 


THE  COFFEE-TREE. 


167 


The  third  column  of  this  table  shows  the  quantity  of  each 
sort  consumed  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  1 852  : — 


Ceylon,  native, 

Do.  Plantation, 
East  India, 

Costa  Rica  and  Brazil, 
Jamaica, 

Mocha  (ungarbled), 

Do.  . . . 

Other  sorts, 


Wholesale  price 
per  cwt. 

46s.  to  47s.  ) 

52s.  to  80s.  ) 

48s.  to  78s. 

50s.  to  70s. 

50s.  to  100s. 

50s.  to  60s.  I 

68s.  to  90s.  ( 


The  Arabian  or  Mocha  cof- 
fee is  small,  and  of  a dark  yel- 
low colour.  The  Javan  and  East 
Indian  are  larger,  and  of  a paler 
yellow.  The  Ceylon,  West  In- 
dian, and  Brazilian  have  a blu- 
ish or  greenish-grey  tint. 

The  coffee-tree  (fig.  33) 
when  in  good  health,  and  full 
grown,  attains  a height  in  some 
countries  not  exceeding  8 or  10, 
but  in  others  averaging  from  15 
to  20  feet,  and  is  covered  with 
a dark,  smooth,  and  shining  fo’ 
liage.  It  is  sown  in  nurseries 
— transplanted  when  about  six 
months  old — in  three  years 
comes  into  full  bearing,  and  in 
favourable  circumstances  will 
continue  to  bear  for  twenty 
years.  It  delights  in  a dry  soil 
and  a warm  situation.  On  dry 
and  elevated  spots  the  berries 
are  smaller,  and  have  a better 
flavour ; but  berries  of  all  sizes 
improve  in  flavour  or  ripen  by 
keeping,  The  small  berries  of 
Arabia  will  ripen  in  three  years, 


Consumed  in  1852. 

20,500,000  lb. 

1,600,000  — 

6.700.000  — 
4,000,000  — 

1.800.000  — 
400,000  — 


85,000,000  lb. 
Fig.  38. 


Coffea  Arabic  a — Arabian -Coffee-Tree^ 
Scale,  1 inch  to  ten  feet. 

Scale  for  leaf,  1 inch  to  2 inches. 


1G8 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


but  the  worst  coffee  produced  in  America  will,  in  from 
ten  to  fourteen  years,  become  “as  good,  and  acquire  as 
high  a flavour,  as  the  best  we  now  have  from  Turkey.” — 
(Ellis.) 

The  sensible  properties  and  effects  of  coffee,  like  those 
of  tea,  are  too  well  known  to  require  to  be  stated  in  detail 
It  exhilarates,  arouses,  and  keeps  awake ; it  allays  hunger 
to  a certain  extent,  gives  to  the  weary  increased  strength  and 
vigour,  and  imparts  a feeling  of  comfort  and  repose.  Its 
physiological  effects  upon  the  system,  so  far  as  they  have 
been  investigated,  appear  to  be,  that,  while  it  makes  the  brain 
more  active,  it  soothes  the  body  generally,  makes  the  change 
and  waste  of  matter  slower,  and  the  demand  for  food  in  con- 
sequence less.*  All  these  effects  it  owes  to  the  conjoined 
action  of  three  ingredients,  very  similar  to  those  contained 
in  tea.  These  are  a volatile  oil  produced  during  the  roast- 
ing— a variety  of  tannic  acid,  which  is  also  altered  during 
the  roasting — and  the  substance  called  theine  or  caffeine, 
which  is  common  to  both  tea  and  coffee. 

First j The  Volatile  Oil. — When  the  coffee-bean  is  gath- 
ered and  dried  in  the  air  it  has  little  smell,  and  only  a slight- 

* The  influence  of  coffee  in  retarding  the  waste  of  the  tissues— as  indicated  by 
the  quantity  of  phosphoric  acid,  common  salt,  and  urea  discharged  under  its  influence 
in  a day — was  shown  by  estimating  the  proportions  of  each  of  these  ingredients  voided 
In  his  urine  by  the  same  person,  in  the  same  circumstances,  when  he  drank  coffee 
and  when  he  took  none. 

rr,.  S contain-  j Phosphoric  Common  TT,- , 
Unne-  \ ing  1 acid.  salt.  Ureu- 

grammes  grammes  grammes 

H.  S.,  without  coffee,  voided  1G35  c.  c.  4.421  9.865  31.298 

With  coffee  from  1£  oz.  of  beans  2005  “ 3.001  8.819  21.888 


Difference,  . . + 3T0  c.  c.  —1.420  —1.046  — 9.410 

In  this  experiment,  while  the  absolute  quantity  of  urine  discharged  in  the  twenty- 
four  hours  was  increased  more  than  one-fifth,  the  absolute  quantities  of  urea  and  of 
phosphoric  acid  contained  in  the  urine  were  diminished  one-third.  That  is  to  say, 
the  change  or  waste  of  matter,  as  indicated  by  the  contents  of  the  urine,  was  dimin- 
ished to  that  extent  by  the  influence  of  the  coffee.  And  the  natural  inference  from 
this  is,  that  the  occupation  of  the  individual  being  the  same,  the  necessary  demand 
for  ordinary  food  ^-’ould  be  lessened  in  a somewhat  corresponding  degree. 


VOLATILE  OIL  IN  COFFEE. 


169 


ly  bitter  and  astringent  taste.  As  with  the  tea-leaf,  it  is 
during  the  roasting  of  coffee  that  the  much  prized  aroma  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  taste  and  flavour  are  brought  out  oi 
produced.  In  tea,  as  we  have  seen,  the  proportion  of  vola- 
til  oil  amounts  to  about  one  pound  in  a hundred  of  the  dried 
leaf,  but  in  roasted  coffee  it  rarely  amounts  to  more  than 
one  in  fifty  thousand  ! And  yet  on  the  different  proportions 
of  this  oil  which  they  severally  contain,  the  aroma  and  the 
consequent  estimation  in  the  market  of  the  different  varieties 
of  coffee  in  a great  measure  depend.  A higher  aroma  would 
make  the  inferior  Ceylon,  Jamaica,  and  East  Indian  coffees 
nearly  equal  in  value  to  the  finest  Mocha ; and  if  the  oil 
could  be  bought  for  the  purpose  of  imparting  this  flavour,  it 
would  be  worth  in  the  market  as  much  as  £100  sterling  an 
ounce  ! — (Payen).  How  it  comes — by  what  slow  chemical 
change  within  the  bean,  that  is,  that  coffee  of  the  most  infe- 
rior quality  so  ripens  by  keeping  as  at  length  to  yield,  on 
roasting,  a coffee  equal  to  the  finest  Mocha,  we  do  not  as  yet 
know.  The  oil  is  formed  during  the  roasting  by  the  action 
of  the  heat  on  some  substance  present  in  the  natural  bean, 
probably  in  small  quantity  only.  It  is  possible  that  by  pro- 
longed keeping  this  substance  is  itself  formed  in  the  inferior 
qualities  of  coffee ; so  that  when  roasted  after  the  keeping  a 
larger  quantity  of  the  valuable  aromatic  oil  is  formed  in  the 
bean. 

The  effect  of  this  volatile  oil  of  coffee  upon  the  system 
has  been  made  the  subject  of  direct  experiment.  When 
roasted  coffee  is  distilled  with  water  this  oil  passes  over,  and 
by  drinking  the  distilled  water  and  oil  together  its  effects 
may  be  ascertained.  Julius  Lehmann  found  in  this  way  that 
is  has  an  effect  in  retarding  the  waste  of  the  tissues  quite 
equal  to  that  of  caffeine  itself.*  It  produces  also  an  agree- 

* The  relative  effects  of  the  volatile  oil  of  coffee,  of  caffeine,  and  of  the  infusion 
of  coffee,  made  in  the  ordinary  way,  upon  the  same  individual  (G.  M.)  in  hie  usual 


170 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


able  excitement,  and  a gentle  perspiration,  dispels  the  sen- 
sation  of  hunger,  and  moves  the  bowels.  In  its  exhilarating 
action  upon  the  brain  it  affects  the  imagination  less  than  the 
reasoning  powers. 

These  effects  followed  when  the  quantity  of  oil  yielded 
by  two  ounces  of  coffee  was  taken  in  a day.  If  this  dose 
was  doubled,  violent  perspiration  came  on,  with  sleeplessness 
and  symptoms  of  congestion. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  volatile  empyreumatic 
oily  constituents  of  roasted  coffee,  though  present  only  in 
minute  quantity,  exercise  a powerful  influence  upon  the  ani- 
mal economy,  exciting  to  greater  activity  both  the  vascular 
and  nervous  systems,  and  yet  retarding  the  waste  of  the  tis- 
sues in  as  great  a degree  as  the  caffeine  itself,  which  the  in- 
fusion of  coffee  usually  contains.  This  activity  of  the  oil  of 
coffee  justifies  us  in  concluding,  as  I have  already  said,  that 
the  similar  oil  produced  in  tea  by  the  roasting  takes  a simi- 
lar share  in  the  effects  which  the  infusion  of  tea  as  a beverage 
produces. 

Second , The  Astringent  Acid. — The  raw  coffee  contains 
about  5 per  cent,  of  an  astringent  acid — the  caffeine  or  caf- 
fee-tonic — which  does  not  blacken  a solution  of  iron,  as  the 


Btato  of  health,  and  when  consuming  the  same  food  in  kind  and  quantity,  were  found 
by  Julius  Lehmann  to  be  as  follows : — 


UriDe.j  contain-. 

( Phosphoric  Common 
\ acid.  salt 

Urea. 

grammes 

grammes 

grammea 

Without  coffee,  he  voided  daily 

1444  c.  c. 

4.140 

9.363 

27.232 

With  4 grains  caffeine,  do., 

1928  “ 

3.768 

9.546 

24.088 

With  empyreumatic  oil  from  ) 
2 oz.  of  beans,  . . . J 

1789  « 

3.479 

10.307 

20.271 

With  coffee,  from  1|  oz.  of  beans, 

1512  “ 

3.105 

6.951 

20.695 

In  all  trials  the  quantity  of  the  urine  was  increased ; but,  in  all,  the  total  quantity 
of  saline  matter  contained  in  the  urine  was  lessened.  The  urea,  as  shown  in  the  last 
column,  was  diminished  most  by  the  empyreumatic  oil,  but  the  waste  of  phosphoric 
acid  and  common  salt  more  by  the  colfee  itself,  which  contained  both,  than  by  eitbef 
»f  the  ingredients  when  used  alone. 


ASTRINGENT  ACID  IN  COFFEE. 


17) 


infusion  of  tea  does,  but  renders  it  green,*  and  does  not  pre- 
cipitate solutions  of  gelatine.  This  acid  is  changed  to  some 
extent  during  the  roasting,  but  still  retains  a portion  of  its 
astringent  properties,  and  contributes  in  some  degree  to  the 
effects  which  the  infusion  of  coffee  produces  upon  the  sys- 
tem. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  proportion  of  this  astringent 
principle  contained  in  coffee  is  much  less  than  is  contained 
in  tea.  Hence  it  is  not  sufficient  to  retard  the  action  of  the 
bowels  as  tea  does,  especially  when  associated  with  the  em- 
pyreumatic  volatile  oil,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  has  a posi- 
tive tendency  to  move  them.  To  the  same  result  the  large 
per  centage  of  fat  contained  in  coffee  may  also  contribute. 

Third , The  Theine,  or  Caffeine  as  it  is  also  called,  exists 
in  different  proportions  in  different  varieties  of  coffee.  It 
varies  in  the  coffee  usually  employed  in  this  country  from 
three  quarters  of  a pound  to  one  pound  in  the  hundred — 
(Stenhouse), — though  according  to  some  experimenters, 
three  or  four  pounds  in  the  hundred  occur  in  certain  varie- 
ties of  coffee.  By  rubbing  common  roasted  coffee  in  a mor- 
tar with  a fifth  of  its  weight  of  slaked  lime,  and  then  boiling 
the  mixture  in  alcohol,  about  half  a per-cent,  of  theine  may 
be  readily  extracted.  Weight  for  weight,  therefore,  tea 
fields  about  twice  as  much  theine  as  roasted  coffee  does  to 
the  water  in  which  it  is  infused.  But  as  we  generally  use  a 
greater  weight  of  coffee  than  we  do  of  tea  in  preparing  our 
beverages,  a cup  of  coffee  of  ordinary  strength  will  probably 
contain  as  much  theine  as  a cup  of  ordinary  tea. 

The  influence  which  this  ingredient  of  the  several  bev- 
erages has  in  producing  the  effects  we  experience  from  the 

* Many  varieties  of  the  astringent,  so-called  tannic  acids  are  found  in  plants— 
that  which  exists  in  tea  has  much  resemblance  to  the  tannin  of  the  oak,  while  those 
of  coffee,  of  Paraguay  tea,  and  the  heaths  (Ericaceae),  form  another  class  of  acids— 
having  much  resemblance  to  one  another,  but  differing  in  their  properties  from  the 
tannic  acid  of  the  oak. 


172 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE 


use  of  them,  has  already  been  explained  when  treating  of 
the  effects  of  tea.. 

But  the  coffee-bean  contains  also  about  thirteen  per 
cent,  of  nutritious  gluten,  which,  as  in  the  case  of  tea,  is 
very  sparingly  dissolved  by  boiling  water,  and  is  usually 
thrown  away  in  the  insoluble  dregs  of  the  coffee.  Among 
some  of  the  Eastern  nations,  the  custom  prevails  of  drinking 
the  grounds  along  with  the  infusion  of  the  coffee : in  these 
cases  the  full  benefit  is  obtained  from  all  the  positively  nu- 
tritive matter  which  the  roasted  coffee  contains. 

The  composition  of  unroasted  coffee,  compared  with  the 
average  composition  of  the  tea-leaf  as  it  comes  to  Europe,  is 
nearly  as  follows  : — 


Tea. 

Coffee. 

(Mulder.) 

(Payen.) 

Water,  .... 

5 

12 

Gum  and  sugar 

21 

15** 

Gluten, 

25 

13 

Theine,  .... 

i 

% 

Fat  and  volatile  oil,  . 

4 

13 

Tannic  acid, 

15 

5 

Woody  fibro, 

24 

34 

Ash, 

5* 

6% 

100 

100 

The  proportion  of  theine  in  both  tea  and  coffee,  it  will 
be  recollected,  is  somewhat  variable. 

Coffee  swells  by  roasting,  but  loses  in  weight,  and  as- 
sumes a brown  colour  more  or  less  dark.  These  changes 
vary,  however,  with  the  degree  of  roasting.  Thus — 


Roasted  to  a 

It  loses  in  weight 

And  gains  in  bulk 

Reddish  brown,  . 

Chestnut  brown,  . 

Dark  brown,  . 

15  per  cent. 

20  per  cent 

25  per  cent. 

30  per  cent. 

50  per  cent 

50  per  cent 

* According  to  Dr.  Sienhouse,  coffee  contains  as  much  as  eight  per  cent,  of  cane 


CHEMICAL  CHANGES  CAUSED  BY  ROASTING. 


173 


The  aroma  is  most  agreeable  when  the  heat  is  not 
greater  than  is  sufficient  to  impart  a light  brown  colour  to 
the  bean.  When  the  roasting  is  carried  too  far  a disagree- 
able smell  gradually  mingles  with  the  esteemed  aroma,  and 
lessens  the  value  of  the  product. 

The  quantity  of  the  coffee-bean  which  is  taken  up  by 
water  is  nearly  the  same  before  and  after  roasting.  It  is 
nearly  the  same  also  in  some  samples,  whether  they  be 
much  or  little  roasted.  It  differs,  however,  very  much  in 
different  samples.  Thus  three  experimenters  found  that 
water  extracted  from  the  samples  of  roasted  coffee  they  ex- 
amined, the  following  proportions  per  cent. : — 


Payen. 

Cadet. 

Lehmann. 

Reddish  brown, 

37.0 

12* 

21* 

Chestnut  brown, 

37.1 

18* 

— 

Dark  brown, 

37.2 

23* 

— 

Some  infusions  of  coffee,  therefore,  even  when  roasted  to 
the  same  extent,  contain  three  times  as  much  of  the  solid 
substance  of  the  coffee  as  others  do.  But  we  have  no  ex- 
periments upon  the  comparative  effects  which  infusions 
so  differing  have  upon  the  constitution  of  the  drinkers.  It 
is  observed  that  some  natural  waters  give  a stronger  and 
better  flavoured  coffee  than  others;  and  this  has  been 
traced,  as  in  Prague,  to  the  presence  of  alkaline  matter  in 
those  which  give  the  most  agreeable  infusion.  Hence,  to 
obtain  a more  uniformly  strong  and  well-flavoured  coffee,  it 
is  recommended  to  add  a little  soda  to  the  water  with  which 
the  infusion  is  made.  About  forty  grains  of  dry,  or  twice 
as  much  of  crystallized  carbonate  of  soda,  are  sufficient  for 
a pound  of  coffee. 

The  chemical  changes  caused  by  the  roasting,  are  the 
production  of  the  active  empyreumatic  oil,  and  of  a brown, 
oitter  substance,  the  chemical  properties  of  which,  and  its 
action  upon  the  system,  still  remain  to  be  investigated. 
They  are  produced  from  the  soluble  part  of  the  raw  bean, 


174 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


but  by  tv  hat  chemical  changes  is  not  yet  known.  In  conclu 
sion,  it  is  proper  to  state  that  coffee  is  reputed  to  possess 
important  medicinal  virtues.  The  great  use  of  coffee  in 
France  is  supposed  to  have  abated  the  prevalence  of  the 
gravel.  In  the  French  colonies,  where  coffee  is  more  used 
than  in  the  English,  as  well  as  in  Turkey,  where  it  is  the 
principal  beverage,  not  only  the  gravel,  but  the  gout,  is 
scarcely  known.  Among  others,  also,  a case  is  mentioned  of 
a gentleman  who  was  attacked  with  gout  at  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  and  had  it  severely  till  he  was  upwards  of  fifty,  with 
chalk  stones  in  the  joints  of  his  hands  and  feet ; but  the  use 
of  coffee  then  recommended  to  him  completely  removed  the 
complaint.* 

It  has  not  been  determined  to  which  of  the  constituents 
of  coffee  this  curative  action  is  due,  or  whether  it  is  the 
same  in  all  constitutions.  These  points  are  worthy  of  care- 
ful experimental  investigation. 

2°.  Other  coffees. — Besides  the  real  Coffea  Arabica) 
other  species  of  the  coffee-plant  are  grown  in  various  coun- 
tries, and  yield  a useful  marketable  bean.  Thus,  in  Silhet 
and  Nepaul,  the  Coffea  Benghalensis  is  cultivated;  on  the 
coast  of  Mosambique,  the  Coffea  Mosambicana;  on  the 
coast  of  Zanguebar,  the  C.  Zanguebaria  ; and  in  the  Mau- 
ritius, the  C.  Mauritiana . The  seed  of  the  last  of  these 
tastes  disagreeably  sharp  and  bitter,  and  sometimes  causes 
vomiting,  yet  it  is  in  some  places  cultivated  instead  of  the 
Coffea  Arabica . It  is  possible  that  these  so-called  different 
species  may,  like  the  varieties  of  the  tea-plant,  be  only  dif- 
ferently modified  forms  of  the  same  original  species. 

But,  besides  the  fruit  of  the  different  coffee-plants,  nu- 
merous other  vegetables  have,  in  different  countries,  been 
propose  I or  used  as  substitutes  for  Arabian  coffee.  A suc- 
cessful substitute  must  contain,  like  coffee,  a fragrant  aro- 

♦ Pharmaceutical  Journal \ vol.  xiii.  p.  330. 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  COFFEE. 


175. 


matic  principle,  a bitter  principle,  and  an  astringent  prin- 
ciple. These  properties  are  found  more  or  less  satisfac- 
torily— 

a . In  the  roasted  seeds  of  Iris  pseudacoris  (yellow 
water-iris),  which  are  said  to  approach  very  near  to  coffee  in 
quality. 

b.  In  the  seeds  of  a Goumelia,  called  in  Turkey  Ken- 
guel,  which  were  shown  at  the  Great  Exhibition  as  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  the  Kair-ar-eh  and  Komah,  where  they 
are  roasted,  ground,  and  used  as  coffee. 

c.  In  the  roasted  acorn,  which  is  said  to  be  much  used 
on  the  Continent  under  the  name  of  acorn  coffee. 

d . In  the  cicer  or  chick-pea  roasted ; in  beans,  rye,  and 
other  grains ; in  nuts,  almonds,  and  even  in  wheaten  bread, 
when  roasted  carefully. 

e.  In  the  seeds  of  Broom  ( Spartium  scoparium ),  and 
in  the  dried  and  roasted  berries  of  the  Triosteum  pcrfolia- 
tum  (Caprifoliacese).  In  the  West  Indies,  the  seeds  of  sev- 
eral species  of  Psychotria  (Cinchonacese) ; in  Soudan,  those 
of  Dura  and  Nitta  ( Inga  bigtobosa) ; among  the  African  ne- 
groes, those  of  Parkia  ( Africana ) ; and  among  the  Tonguses, 
those  of  a species  of  Hyoscyamus — are  all  employed  as  sub- 
stitutes for  coffee. 

/.  In  the  dried  and  roasted  roots  also  of  many  plants. 
The  carrot  and  turnip  are  used  for  this  purpose,  but  more 
commonly  the  roots  of  the  common  goose-grass  ( Galium 
aparine ),  especially  in  Ireland;  while  those  of  the  dandelion 
( Leontodon  taraxacum)  and  of  chicory  are  extensively  em- 
ployed both  in  this  country  and  on  the  Continent.  In  none 
of  these  roots,  however,  has  the  characteristic  principle, 
theine,  been  discovered,  and  none  of  them,  therefore,  can 
serve  physiological  purposes  as  the  seeds  of  our  common 
coffee. 

Yet  one  of  these  roots  (chicory)  has  already,  in  other 


176 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


Fig.  84. 


countries,  crept  into  extensive  use,  and  among  ourselves  is 
at  present  rapidly  rising  in  public  estimation.  At  first  it 
was  only  mixed  with  pure  coffee  as  an  adulteration  by  frau- 
dulent dealers.  But  this  practice  extended  itself  so  widely, 
that,  for  the  defence  both  of  the  honest  dealer  and  of  the 
public,  the  sale  has  been  legalised,  and  much  chicory  in  the 
unmixed  state  is  now  bought  and  used  instead  of  or  along 
with  genuine  coffee.  As  one  of  the  recognised  beverages  we 
now  infuse,  therefore,  the  plant  deserves  a brief  notice  in 
this  place. 

3°.  Succori,  chicory  or  wild  endive  ( Cichorium  inty- 
bus))  fig.  34,  is  a native  weed,  which, 
with  its  large  pale-blue  flowers,  is 
seen  scattered  about  in  numerous  pla- 
ces. It  has  a large  white  parsnip- 
like tap-root,  which  increases  in  sizo> 
when  the  plant  is  subjected  to  culti- 
vation. This  root  abounds  in  a bitter 
juice,  which  has  led  to  its  use  as  a 
substitute  for  coffee.  The  plant  is  now 
extensively  cultivated  for  the  sake 
of  its  root.  In  this  country  the  cul- 
ture is  chiefly  confined  to  the  counties 
of  Surrey,  Bedford,  and  York,  On 
the  Continent  it  is  largely  grown  in 
Prussia,  Belgium,  and  France.  The 
foreign  is  considered  greatly  superior 

Vichorivm  intybus — Tbo  Chico.  & . , , . , . 

17  plant.  to  that  of  Fnglish  growth,  and  is 

Scale,  half-inch  to  afoot.  largely  imported  into  this  country, 

chiefly  through  Hamburg  and  Antwerp. 

The  root  is  taken  up  before  the  plant  shoots  into  flower, 
is  washed,  sliced,  and  dried ; it  is  then  roasted  till  it  is  of  a 
chocolate  colour.  Two  pounds  of  lard  are  roasted  with  each 
hundredweight,  and  the  root  loses  in  roasting  from  25  to 


CHICORY. 


177 


30  per  cent.  When  ground  and  exposed  to  the  air,  it  be- 
comes moist  and  clammy,  increases  in  weight,  and  acquires 
a distinct  smell  of  liquorice,  and  a sensibly  sweet  first  taste. 
It  possesses  in  no  degree  the  pleasant  aroma  which  recom- 
mends the  genuine  roasted  coffee.  When  infused,  even  in 
cold  water,  it  imparts  to  it  a dark  colour,  and  a sweetish 
bitter  taste.  To  many  the  addition  of  a little  of  this  bitter 
liquid  to  the  infusion  of  genuine  coffee  appears  an  improve- 
ment— a remarkable  illustration  of  the  creation  of  a corrupt 
taste  by  an  adulteration,  which  taste  demands  afterwards  the 
continuance  of  the  adulteration  to  satisfy  its  own  craving. 
The  bitter  substance  however,  is  not  considered  unwhole- 
some. Yery  many  bitter  substances  of  this  kind  possess  a 
tonic  property,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  bitter  of  chi- 
cory may  be  among  the  number. 

But  the  use  of  chicory  appears  to  have  originated  from 
other  causes  than  the  discovery,  or  even  the  supposed  pre- 
sence, of  a tonic  property  in  its  bitter  ingredient.  A little 
of  the  roasted  chicory  gives  as  dark  a colour  to  water,  and  as 
bitter  a taste,  as  a great  deal  of  coffee,  and  hence  it  was  ori- 
ginally introduced  into  the  coffeehouses  for  a purpose  akin 
to  that  which  takes  Cocculus  indicus  into  the  premises  of 
tlie  fraudulent  brewer.  It  gave  colour  and  taste  to  the  bev- 
erage of  the  drinker,  and  at  the  same  time  saved  the  expen- 
sive coffee  of  the  seller.  The  public  taste  gradually  accom- 
modated itself  to  the  fraudulent  mixture;  it  became  by- 
and-by  even  grateful  to  the  accustomed  palate  ; and  finally  a 
kind  of  favourite  necessity  to  the  lovers  of  bitter  coffee . How 
far  circumstances  are  gradually  giving  to  the  infusion  of  chi- 
cory, in  some  countries,  the  character  of  a national  beverage, 
may  be  judged  of  from  the  facts,  that  in  1845  the  quantity 
of  chicory  imported  into  this  country  was  estimated  at  2000 
tons,  or  4^  millions  of  pounds,  and  it  has  since  largely  in- 
creased ; that  the  quantity  of  the  dried  root  consumed  in 


178 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE 


France  amount  already  to  12  millions  of  pounds  a-year;  and 
that  in  some  parts  of  Germany  the  women  are  becoming  re- 
gular chicory- topers,*  and  are  making  of  it  an  important 
part  of  their  ordinary  sustenance. 

The  active  ingredients  in  roasted  chicory  are,  first,  the 
'empyreumatic  volatile  oil;  this  is  produced  during  the  roast- 
ing, and  though  not  so  fragrant,  this  oil  probably  exercises 
upon  the  system  some  of  the  gently-exciting,  nerve-sooth- 
ing, and  hunger-staying  influence  of  the  similar  ingredients 
contained  in  tea  and  coffee ; and,  second , the  bitter  prin- 
ciple. When  taken  unmixed,  this  substance  is  to  many, 
while  they  are  unaccustomed  to  it,  not  only  disagreeable, 
but  nauseous  in  a high  degree.  It  may,  however,  like  many 
other  bitter  principles,  possess,  as  I have  said,  a tonic  or 
strengthening  property.  Taken  in  moderate  quantities, 
these  ingredients  of  chicory  are  probably  not  injurious  to 
health;  but  by  prolonged  and  frequent  use  they  produce 
heartburn,  cramp  in  the  stomach,  loss  of  appetite,  acidity 
in  the  mouth,  constipation,  with  intermittent  diarrhoea,  weak- 
ness of  the  limbs,  tremblings,  sleeplessness,  a drunken  clou- 
diness of  the  senses,  &c.  &c.  At  the  best,  therefore,  chi« 
cory  is  a substitute  for  coffee  to  which  only  those  to  whom 
the  price  is  an  object  ought  to  have  recourse. 

The  simplest  way  of  detecting  an  admixture  of  chicory 
in  coffee,  is  to  put  the  powder  in  cold  water.  Chicory  gives 
a coloured  infusion  in  the  cold  while  coffee  does  not,  and  by 
the  depth  of  the  colour  the  proportion  of  chicory  may  be 
guessed  at.  The  presence  of  coffee  in  chicory  is  ascertained 
by  boiling  the  supposed  mixture  with  quicklime,  filtering, 
evaporating  to  dryness,  adding  sulphuric  acid  and  peroxide 
of  manganese,  and  gently  heating,  when  a substance  called 
kinon  will  sublime,  if  coffee  is  present. 

* “ Cichorien-Kaffee-Sclnvclgerinnen.” — Strtjmpf,  Die  Fortschritte  der  A nge> 
xcandten  Ghemie. 


MODES  OF  DETECTING  ADMIXTURES. 


17S 


The  infusion  or  decoction  of  a suspected  mixture  may 
be  tested  also  by  salts  of  peroxide  of  iron.  The  infusion  of 
chicory  is  brownish  yellow,  and  becomes  only  a little  darker 
when  such  a salt  of  iron  is  added,  giving  no  precipitate. 
The  infusion  of  coffee  is  of  a brown  colour,  becomes  green 
when  the  iron  solution  is  added,  and  gives  a brownish-green 
precipitate. 

Another  reason  why  the  use  of  chicory  should  bo  avoid- 
ed by  those  who  can  afford  to  buy  pure  coffee,  is  found  in 
the  fact,  that  pure  chicory  is  as  difficult  to  be  met  with  in 
the  market  as  unadulterated  coffee.  Venetian  red  is  very 
commonly  employed  to  impart  to  the  chicory  a true  coffee 
colour ; and  it  is  curious  to  observe  how  the  practice  of  adul- 
teration extends  itself  from  trade  to  trade.  The  coffee- 
dealer  adulterates  his  coffee  with  chicory  to  increase  his  pro- 
fits— the  chicory-maker  adulterates  his  chicory  with  Venetian 
red,  to  please  the  eye  of  the  coffee-dealer ; and,  lastly,  the 
Venetian-red  manufacturer  grinds  up  his  colour  with  brick- 
dust,  that  by  his  greater  cheapness,  and  the  variety  of  shades 
he  offers,  he  may  secure  the  patronage  of  the  trade  in  chi* 
cory ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 

THE  COCOAS. 


Cocoa,  ancient  use  of,  in  Mexico. — Brought  to  Europe  by  the  Spaniards.— The  tree 
and  its  fruit. — Yarieties  in  the  market — Quantity  imported  into  this  country.— 
Manufacture  of  the  bean. — Cocoa  nibs. — Cocoa  of  commerce. — Chocolate. — Consti- 
tuents of  cocoa. — The  volatile  oil. — Tho  peculiar  bitter  principle,  theobromine. — 
The  large  proportion  of  fat  which  characterises  cocoa. — The  starch  and  gluten. — 
Its  general  composition  compared  with  that  of  milk. — It  forms  a most  nutritious 
beverage.— Substitutes  for  cocoa. — The  earth-nut  and  the  guarana  of  Brazil.— De- 
coction of  cocoa  nibs  not  so  nutritious. — The  cocoa  husk  or  “miserable ; ” impor- 
tation of.  and  beverage  from. — General  view  of  the  chemistry  of  tho  infused  b ov- 
erages.- Summary  of  their  physiological  action. — Concluding  reflections.— Prison 
dietaries 


III.  The  Cocoas,  as  I have  said,  are  more  properly 
soups  or  gruels  than  simple  infusions.  They  are  prepared 
from  certain  oily  seeds,  which  are  first  ground  to  a pulp  by 
passing  them  between  hot  rollers,  and  are  then  diffused 
through  boiling  water  for  immediate  use. 

1°.  The  Mexican  cocoa  is  the  seed  of  the  Thcobroma 
cacao  (fig.  35).  This  is  a small  but  beautiful  tree,  with 
bright  dark-green  leaves,  which  is  a native  of  the  West  In- 
dies and  of  the  central  regions  of  America.  It  grows  spon* 


MEXICAN  COCOA. 


181 


taneously  in  Mexico,  and  on  the  coast  of  Caraccas  and  forma 
whole  forests  in  Demerara. 


Fig.  35. 


Theobroma  cacao — The  Cacao, M Cocoa,”  or  Chocolate  tree. 

Scale,  1 inch  to  10  feet, 

1,  Leaf  and  flower. — 2,  Fruit  or  pod. 

Scale,  1 inch  to  2 inches. 

When  the  Spaniards  first  established  themselves  in  Mex- 
ico they  found  a beverage  prepared  from  this  seed  in  com* 
mon  use  among  the  native  inhabitants.  It  was  known  by 
the  Mexican  name  of  Chocollatl,  and  was  said  to  have  been 


182 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


in  use  from  time  immemorial.  It  was  brought  thence  to 
Europe  by  the  Spaniards  in  1520,  and  has  since  been  intro- 
duced more  or  less  extensively  as  a beverage  into  every  civ- 
ilised country.  Linnaeus  was  so  fond  of  it  that  he  gave  to 
the  tree  the  generic  name  of  Theobroma — Food  of  the  Gods. 

The  fruit  of  the  tree,  which,  like  the  fig,  grows  directly 
from  the  stem  and  principal  branches,  is  of  the  form  and 
size  of  a small  oblong  melon  or  thick  cucumber  ( see  fig.  36). 
It  contains  from  six  to  thirty  beans  or  seeds,  imbedded  in 
rows  in  a spongy  substance,  like  that  of  the  water-melon. 
When  ripe,  the  fruit  is  plucked,  opened,  the  seeds  cleaned 
from  the  marrowy  substance,  and  dried.  In  the  West  Indies 
they  are  immediately  picked  for  market ; but  in  the  Carac- 
cas  they  are  put  in  heaps,  and  covered  over,  or  sometimes 
buried  in  the  earth  till  they  undergo  a slight  fermentation, 
before  they  are  finally  dried  and  picked  for  market.  By 
this  treatment  they  lose  a portion  of  their  natural  bitter- 
ness and  acrimony  of  taste,  which  is  greater  in  the  beans  of 
the  mainland  than  in  those  of  the  American  islands.  The 
cocoa  of  Central  America  is,  however,  of  superior  quality,  or 
at  least  is  more  generally  esteemed  in  the  European  markets 
than  that  which  is  grown  in  the  West  Indies.  It  still 
retains  a greater  degree  of  bitterness,  and  this  may  be  one 
reason  for  the  preference  given  to  it. 

The  cocoa  of  Trinidad  is  the  variety  chiefly  consumed  in 
this  country.  The  quality  of  the  mainland  cocoas  which 
come  to  the  English  market  from  Bahia  and  Guayaquil  for 
example,  has  hitherto  been  always  inferior.  The  reason  ol 
this  has  been,  that,  until  the  recent  alteration  of  the  tariff, 
the  duty  oa  British  province  cocoa  was  Id.  a-pound,  and  five 
per  cent,  additional;  while  on  foreign  cocoa  it  was  2d.  a- 
pound,  and  five  per  cent.  This  difference  was  equal  to  one- 
fourth  or  one-fifth  of  the  whole  price  of  the  cocoa;  and, 
therefore,  while  it  brought  to  our  markets  the  best  qualities 


CONSUMPTION  OF  COCOA  IN  BRITAIN. 


183 


produced  in  Trinidad  and  in  our  other  colonies,  it  excluded 
all  foreign  cocoas  but  those  which  were  of  such  inferior 
quality  that,  after  paying  this  heavy  duty,  they  could  still  be 
sold  as  low  as  the  produce  of  our  own  plantations.  The 
more  choice  varieties  were  sent  to  the  markets  of  Mexico, 
Spain,  France,  and  Italy,  in  which  countries  the  beverages 
prepared  from  the  cocoa-bean  are  more  popular  and  in  more 
general  use  than  among  ourselves.  Indeed,  they  have  never 
been  favourites  among  us,  nor  has  the  consumption  of  cocoa 
kept  pace  even  with  the  increase  of  our  population.  Thus 
fche  importation  in — 

1840  was 3,499,746  lbs. 

1842  „ 3,172,255  „ 

1852  3,400,000  „ 

so  that  for  twenty  years  the  quantity  imported  yearly  into 
the  United  Kingdom  has  been  nearly  stationary.  By  the 
recent  alteration  of  the  tariff,  however,  the  duty  on  foreign 
cocoa  has  been  reduced  to  a penny  a-pound,  the  same  as  on 
British  plantation  cocoa.  All  qualities,  therefore,  will  now 
come  to  us  under  equal  advantages,  and  we  may  expect  both 
that  the  article  will  be  cheapened  in  the  market,  and  that 
the  consumption  of  it  will  largely  increase. 

The  cocoa-bean  of  commerce  is  brittle,  of  a dark  brown 
colour  internally,  eats  like  a rich  nut,  and  has  a slightly 
astringent  but  decidedly  bitter  taste.  This  bitterness  is  more 
decided  in  the  South  American  or  mainland  varieties.  In 
preparing  it  for  use,  it  is  gently  roasted  in  an  iron  cylinder, 
in  the  same  way  as  coffee  is  roasted,  till  the  aroma  appears  to 
be  fully  developed,  when  it  is  allowed  to  cool.  The  bean  is 
now  more  brittle,  lighter  brown  in  colour,  and  both  the 
natural  astringency  and  the  bitterness  are  less  perceptible 
than  before.  It  is  manufactured  for  the  market  in  one  or 
other  of  three  principal  ways.  First , The  whole  bean  aftei 


184 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


roasting  is  beat  into  a paste  in  a hot  mortar,  or  is  ground 
between  hot  rollers  adjusted  for  the  purpose.  This  paste, 
mixed  with  starch,  sugar,  and  other  similar  ingredients  in 
various  proportions,  forms  the  common  cocoa,  rock  cocoa, 
soluble  cocoa,  &c.,  of  the  shops.  These  are  often  gritty  from 
the  admixture  of  earthy  and  other  matters  which  adhere  to 
the  husk  of  the  beans.  Second , The  bean  is  deprived  of  its 
husk,  which  forms  about  1 1 per  cent,  of  its"  weight,  and  is 
then  crushed  into  fragments.  These  form  the  cocoa  nibs  of 
the  shops,  and  are  the  purest  state  in  which  cocoa  can  usually 
be  obtained  from  the  retail  dealer.  Third , The  bean,  when 
shelled,  is  ground  at  once  into  a paste,  by  means  of  hot  roll- 
ers, mixed  with  sugar,  and  seasoned  with  vanilla,  and  some- 
times with  cinnamon  and  cloves : this  paste  forms  the  long- 
known  chocolate. 

When  prepared,  it  is  also  used  in  three  different  ways. 
First,  The  chocolate  is  made  up  into  sweet  cakes  and  bon- 
bons, and  is  eaten  in  the  solid  state  as  a nutritious  article  of 
diet,  containing  in  a small  compass  much  strength-sustaining 
capability.  Second , The  chocolate  or  cocoa  is  scraped  into 
powder,  and  mixed  with  boiling  water  or  boiling  milk,  when 
it  makes  a beverage,  somewhat  thick,  but  agreeable  to  the 
palate,  refreshing  to  the  spirits,  and  highly  nutritious. 
Third , The  nibs  are  boiled  in  water,  with  which  they  form 
a dark-brown  decoction,  which,  like  coffee,  is  poured  off  the 
insoluble  part  of  the  bean.  With  sugar  and  milk  this  forms 
an  agreeable  drink,  better  adapted  for  persons  of  weak 
digestion  than  the  consumption  of  the  entire  bean.  Another 
variety  of  the  cocoa  beverages,  and  which  may  be  called 
cocoa-tea,  is  prepared  by  boiling  the  husks  of  the  bean  in 
water,  with  which  they  form  a brown  decoction.  This  husk 
is  usually  ground  up  with  the  ordinary  cocoas,  but  it  is  always 
separated  in  the  manufacture  of  the  purer  chocolates. 
Hence  in  the  chocolate  manufactories  it  accumulates  in  large 


MODES  OF  PREPARING  COCOA. 


185 

quantities,  which  are  imported  into  this  country  from  Trieste 
and  other  Italian  ports,  under  the  name  of  “miserable.” 
Here  the  husk  is  partly  ground  up  in  the  inferior  cocoas,  and 
is  partly  despatched  to  Ireland,  where  it  is  said  to  yield  a 
wholesome  and  agreeable  beverage  to  the  poorer  classes. 

Besides  the  exhilarating  and  sustaining  properties  which 
it  possesses  in  common  with  tea  and  coffee,  cocoa,  in  its  more 
common  forms,  is  eminently  nutritious.  Its  active  or  useful 
ingredients  are  the  following : — 

j First,  The  volatile  oil,  to  which  its  aroma  is  due,  and 
which  is  produced  during  the  roasting.  The  proportion  of 
this  oil  which  is  contained  in  the  roasted  bean  has  not  yet 
been  determined,  but  it  is  no  doubt  very  small.  Its  action  on 
the  system  is  probably  similar  to  that  of  the  odoriferous  oils 
produced  by  the  same  process  in  tea  and  coffee. 

Second , A peculiar  principle,  resembling  the  theine  of 
tea  and  coffee,  though  not  identical  with  it.  Like  theine,  it 
is  a white  crystalline  substance,  which  has  a slightly  bitter 
taste,  and  contains  a large  per-centage  of  nitrogen.  It  is 
called  by  chemists  theobromine , from  the  generic  name  of 
the  cocoa  tree ; and  its  composition,  compared  with  that  of 


theine,  is  as  follows  : — 

Theine. 

Theobromine. 

Carbon,  . 

49.30 

46.43 

Hydrogen, 

. 5.0S 

4.20 

Nitrogen,  . . . . 

. 28.83 

35.85 

Oxygon,  . 

16.29 

13.52 

100 

100 

• 

It  is  richer  in  nitrogen,  therefore,  even  than  theine  ; and 
as  nearly  all  vegetable  principles,  rich  in  nitrogen,  of  which 
the  influence  upon  the  system  has  been  examined,  are  found 
to  be  very  active,  the  same  is  inferred  in  regard  to  theobro- 
mine. And  further,  its  analogy  in  chemical  properties  to 
theine  leads  to  the  belief  that  it  exercises  a similar  exhilarat" 
ing  and  soothing,  hunger-stilling  and  waste-retarding  effect 


186  THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 

with  the  latter  substance.  The  benefits  experienced  from  the 
use  of  cocoa  are  due,  in  part  at  least,  therefore,  to  the  theo- 
bromine it  contains.  The  proportion  of  this  substance  in 
the  cocoa-bean  is  small,  but  it  has  not  yet,  I believe,  been 
rigorously  determined.  It  exists,  also,  in  sensible  quantity 
m the  husk  of  the  bean.  The  decoction  obtained  by  boiling 
the  husk  in  water,  will  not,  therefore,  be  wholly  devoid  of 
useful  ingredients,  or  of  good  effect. 

Third , The  predominating  ingredient  in  cocoa,  and  the 
one  by  which  it  is  most  remarkably  distinguished  from  tea 
and  coffee,  however,  is  the  large  proportion  of  fatty  matter 
known  as  cocoa*butter  which  it  contains.  This  amounts  to 
upwards  of  one-half  the  weight  of  the  shelled  or  husked 
bean.  Consumed  in  either  of  its  more  usual  forms,  there- 
fore, cocoa  is  a very  rich  article  of  food,  and  for  this  reason 
it  not  unfrequently  disagrees  with  delicate  stomachs.  It  is 
in  some  measure  to  lessen  the  sense  of  this  richness,  that 
sugar,  starch,  and  fragrant  seasonings  are  so  generally 
ground  up  with  the  roasted  bean  in  the  manufacture  of  co- 
coa and  chocolate. 

Fourth , It  contains  also  a large  proportion  both  of 
starch  and  gluten, — substances  which,  as  we  have  elsewhere 
seen,  form  the  staple  constituents  of  all  our  more  valuable 
varieties  of  vegetable  food.  The  average  composition  of  the 
entire  bean,  when  deprived  of  its  husk,  is  nearly  as  fol 
lows  . — 

Water,  . . • 

Starch,  gum,  &c., 

Gluten,  &c.,  ..... 

Oil  (cocoa-butter),  with  a little  theobromine, 

100 


5 

22 

17 

56 


This  composition  reminds  us  of  the  richest  and  moot  nu- 
tritive forms  of  vegetable  food ; and  especially  of  the  aily 
seeds  and  nuts  with  which  cattle  are  fed  and  fattened.  Uf 


THE  FATTY  MATTER  IN  COCt)A. 


187 


all  the  varieties  of  human  food,  however,  it  has  the  closest 
resemblance  to  milk.  Thus,  dried  milk  (milk  evaporated  to 
dryness),  and  the  dry  cocoa-bean,  consist  respectively  of — 


Milk. 

Cocca-bean. 

Casein  or  gluten, 

35 

IS 

Fat,  . 

. 24 

55 

Sugar  or  starch,  &c., 

87 

23 

Ash,  or  mineral  matter, 

4 

4 

100 

100 

It  is  rich,  therefore,  in  all  the  important  nutritious  prin- 
ciples which  are  found  to  co-exist  in  our  most  valued  forms 
of  ordinary  food.  It  differs  from  milk  chiefly  by  the  greater 
proportion  of  fat  which  it  contains,  and  hence  it  cannot  be 
used  so  largely  without  admixture  as  the  more  familiar  milk. 
When  mixed  with  water,  however,  as  it  is  usually  drank, 
it  is  more  properly  compared  with  milk  than  with  infusions 
of  little  direct  nutritive  value,  like  those  of  tea  and  coffee. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  the  great  advantage  over 
milk,  over  beef-tea  and  other  similar  beverages,  that  it  con- 
tains the  substance  theobromine,  and  the  volatile  empyreu- 
matic  oil.  Thus  it  unites  in  itself  the  exhilarating  proper- 
ties of  tea  with  the  strengthening  and  ordinary  body-sup- 
porting qualities  of  milk.  The  cocoa,  as  shown  in  the  above 
table,  is  richer  in  fat,  the  milk  in  casein.  Hence  probably 
has  arisen  the  practice  of  making  milk-cocoa,  in  which  the  con- 
stituents of  the  one  ingredient  dovetail  into  and  assuage  the 
influence  of  those  of  the  other.  The  large  proportion  of  oil  it 
contains  justifies  also,  as  fitting  it  better  for  most  stomachs, 
the  practice  of  mixing  or  grinding  up  the  cocoa  with  sugar, 
flour,  or  starch,  in  the  preparation  of  cocoa-paste  or  choco- 
late. Both  practices  are  indeed  skilful  chemical  adjust- 
ments, made  without  chemical  knowledge,  as  the  results  of 
long  and  wide  experience.  And,  lastly,  the  general  compo- 
sition of  the  beans  shows  that,  in  chocolate  cakes  and  com* 

9 


188 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


fits,  when  faithfully  prepared,  there  should  reside,  as  exp© 
rience  has  also  shown  to  be  the  case,  much  nutritive  virtue, 
and  the  means,  both  of  supporting  the  bodily  strength,  and 
of  sustaining  the  nervous  energy  reduced  into  comparatively 
small  compass. 

2°.  Brazilian  cocoa,  or  Guarana. — In  Brazil  the  seeds 
of  the  Paullinia  sorbilis  are  collected,  prepared,  and  used 
in  the  same  way  as  those  of  the  Tlieobroma  cacao.  They 
are  usually  described  by  travellers  as  a variety  of  coffee — 
but  the  seeds,  like  the  cocoa-bean,  are  pounded  and  made 
into  cakes,  which  are  known  as  Guarana  bread.  When 
used,  these  cakes  are  mixed  with  water,  as  we  do  with  the 
cakes  of  cocoa  or  chocolate,  and  the  mixture  is  sweetened 
and  drank.  To  what  extent  this  article  is  prepared  and 
consumed  in  Brazil,  I have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  It 
is  a fact  of  great  interest  in  regard  to  this  substance,  and 
one  which  shows  it  to  have  a true  place  among  the  beverages 
of  which  we  are  now  treating,  that  like  tea  and  coffee  it  has 
been  found  to  contain  theine,  and  is,  therefore,  capable  of 
exercising  upon  the  system  an  influence  similar  to  that 
which  is  experienced  by  those  who  use  these  two  favourite 
beverages. 

3°.  Other  cocoas. — The  substances,  as  yet  known,  which 
can  be  employed  in  the  place  of,  or  as  substitutes  for,  Mexi- 
can cocoa,  are  comparatively  few  in  number.  To  fit  them 
for  this  purpose,  they  must  contain  an  odoriferous  principle 
of  some  degree  of  fragrance,  abundance  of  fat,  and  a con- 
siderable amount  of  ordinary  nutriment.  Oily  seeds  and 
nuts  are  almost  the  only  vegetable  productions  from  which 
beverages  resembling  cocoa  have  anywhere  been  manufac- 
tured. Among  these  the  earth-nut  (Arachis  hypogcea ),  & 
kind  of  oily  underground  pea,  is  roasted  in  South  Carolina, 
and  then  prepared  and  used  in  the  same  way  as  chocolate. 
In  Spain,  the  root  of  the  Cypcrus  esculentus , or  earth- 


BRAZILIAN  COCOA,  OR  GUARANA, 


189 


chestnut,  is  roasted  and  used  as  a substitute  for  both  coffee 
and  chocolate,  but  especially  for  the  latter,  which  is  much 
consumed  in  Spain.  These  are  all  the  professed  substitutes 
for  the  cocoa-bean  with  which  I am  acquainted.  Neither 
of  the  two  last-mentioned,  however,  contains  a bitter  prin- 
ciple rich  in  nitrogen,  of  the  nature  of  the  theobromine  of 
the  true  cocoa,  or  of  the  theine  contained  in  guarana.  They 
can  never,  therefore,  be  employed  effectively  to  replace  the 
Mexican  cocoa. 

As  adulterating  materials,  the  substances  chiefly  em- 
ployed by  fraudulent  manufacturers  of  cocoa  and  chocolate, 
are  the  husks  of  the  bean,  starch,  sugar,  fat,  ground  roots, 
and  red  ochre. 

Before  I leave  this  subject,  it  may  interest  the  reader  if 
I briefly  sum  up  what  appears  to  be  the  actual  state  of  our 
knowledge  regarding  the  chemistry  and  physiology  of  the 
beverages  we  infuse. 

First , As  to  the  chemistry  of  the  various  leaves  and 
seeds  we  have  mentioned,  it  appears  that,  when  roasted  and 
ready  for  use,  they  all  contain, — 

a.  A volatile,  odoriferous,  aromatic  oil,  which  does  not 
exist  in  the  fresh  leaf  or  seed,  but  is  produced  or  developed 
during  the  roasting.  In  tea  this  oil  is  most  abundant,  in 
coffee  probably  next,  and  in  cocoa  least  in  quantity.  In  the 
teas  (Chinese  and  Paraguay),  and  in  roasted  coffee,  the 
quantity  and  activity  of  this  oil  appear  to  diminish  by  keep- 
ing. In  raw  coffee,  on  the  other  hand,  the  power  of  develop- 
ing this  oil  by  roasting  is  greater  the  longer  the  bean  is  kept 
or  allowed  to  ripen. 

b.  A peculiar,  bitter,  crystallisable  principle,  containing 
much  nitrogen,  and  exerting  a specific  action  on  the  system. 
In  the  teas,  in  coffee,  and  in  guarana,  this  principle  is  theine, 
which  contains  29  per  cent,  of  nitrogen ; in  cocoa  it  is  theo. 
bromine,  which  contains  36  per  cent,  of  nitrogen.  Weight 


190 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE; 


for  weight,  the  average  qualities  of  tea  contain  about  twice 
as  much  theine  as  the  average  qualities  of  coffee,  but  in  both 
it  varies  between  1 and  5 per  cent,  as  extremes.  In  cocoa 
the  proportion  of  theobromine  has  not  been  determined.  In 
well-roasted  coffee,  and  in  chicory,  another  bitter  principle, 
which  is  soluble,  uncrystallisable,  and  free  from  nitrogen,  is 
produced  during  the  roasting.  The  quantity  and  properties 
of  this  substance  have  not  been  determined. 

c.  A variety  of  tannin  or  tannic  acid,  which  gives  their 
astringency  to  the  infusions  prepared  from  all  these  sub- 
stances. Of  this  ingredient  the  teas  contain  most,  coffee 
next,  and  cocoa  the  least.  The  tannin  of  Chinese  tea  gives 
a black,  that  of  mate  and  of  coffee  a green  with  solutions 
containing  iron. 

d.  A nutritious  substance  resembling  the  gluten  of  wheat 
or  the  fibrin  of  beef.  In  the  tea-leaf  this  ingredient  is  most 
abundant,  in  cocoa  next,  while  coffee  contains  the  least.  It 
dissolves  but  sparingly  in  water,  and  is  therefore  generally 
lost  to  the  consumer  when  only  the  infusion  is  drank.  The 
full  benefit  of  this  ingredient  is  obtained  only  when  the  tea- 
leaves  are  eaten,  when  the  coffee  grounds  are  taken  along 
with  the  infusion,  or  when  the  whole  material  is  made  into  a 
beverage,  as  in  the  usual  modes  of  preparing  cocoa  and  cho- 
colate. 

e . A quantity  of  fat,  which  in  cocoa  forms  more  than  half 
the  whole  weight  of  the  bean,  in  coffee  one-eighth,  and  in  tea 
only  3 or  4 per  cent.  The  presence  of  so  large  a proportion 
of  fat  gives  a peculiar  character  to  cocoa,  rendering  it  most 
nutritious,  especially  when  made  with  milk,  to  those  whose 
stomachs  will  bear  it,  but  making  it  less  suitable  at  the  same 
time  to  persons  of  weak  digestive  powers. 

Of  the  infusions  themselves  which  are  yielded  by  the  dif- 
ferent varieties  of  tea,  mate  and  coffee,  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  they  vary  in  strength  with  the  sample  employed.  01 


THEIR  ACTION  ON  THE  SYSTEM. 


191 


some  teas  and  coffees,  boiling  water  will  extract  and  dissolve 
as  much  as  one-third  of  the  whole  substance ; of  others,  not 
more  than  one-sixth.  The  proportions  of  the  several  ingre- 
dients above-mentioned  which  the  infusions  we  prepare  are 
likely  to  contain,  must  therefore  be  very  variable  and 
uncertain. 

Second , As  to  the  physiology  of  these  beverages,  or  their 
action  on  the  system,  it  appears — 

a . Generally,  that  they  all  exert  a remarkable  influence 
on  the  activity  of  the  brain — exalting,  so  to  speak,  the  ner- 
vous life ; and  yet  they  do  so  in  a way  different  from  opium 
or  ardent  spirits,  since  they  act  as  antidotes  to  the  narcotic 
influence  of  the  one,  and  relieve  the  intoxication  produced  by 
the  other. 

b.  They  all  soothe  the  vascular  or  corporeal  system,  allay 
hunger,  retard  the  change  of  matter,  and  diminish  the 
amount  of  bodily  waste  in  a given  time ; and  if  this  waste 
must,  in  the  healthy  body,  be  constantly  restored  in  the  form 
of  ordinary  food,  this  diminution  of  the  waste  is  equivalent 
to  a lessening  of  the  amount  of  food  which  is  necessary  to 
sustain  the  bod}’ — hence  their  value  to  the  poor. . They  are 
indirectly  nutritious. 

c.  Specially,  they  diminish  the  quantity  of  carbonic  acid 
given  off  from  the  lungs  in  a given  time — (Prout) — and  that 
also  of  urea,  phosphoric  acid,  and  common  salt  in  the  urine. 
(Julius  Lehmann.)  These  are  the  chemical  forms  in  which 
the  lessening  of  the  change  of  matter  manifests  itself.  In  the 
case  of  coffee  it  has  been  ascertained  by  experiment,  that 
this  lessening  of  the  waste  is  due  more  to  the  empyreumatic 
oil  than  to  the  caffeine.  The  same  is  probably  true  also  of 
tea. 

d . The  increased  action  of  the  heart,  the  trembling,  the 
headache,  and  the  peculiar  intoxication  and  delirium  which 


192 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


extreme  indulgence  in  coffee  sometimes  produces,  are  mostly 
caused  by  the  caffeine.  On  the  other  hand,  the  increased 
action  of  the  kidneys,  of  the  bowels,  and  of  the  perspiring 
vessels,  and  generally  the  increased  activity  of  the  whole 
system,  are  ascribed  to  the  action  of  the  oil.  That  Chinese 
tea  has  an  astringent  or  costive  effect  upon  the  bowels,  may 
arise  either  from  the  empyreumatic  oil  of  tea  not  acting  in 
the  same  way  as  that  of  coffee,  or  from  the  larger  proportion 
of  the  astringent  tannic  acid  which  tea  contains  being  able  to 
counteract  the  effect  of  the  oil.  That  there  is  a specific  dif- 
ference in  the  action  of  the  empyreumatic  oils  of  tea  and 
mate,  compared  with  that  of  coffee,  is  further  probable 
from  the  remarkably  intoxicating  effect  which  both  the  Chinese 
and  the  Paraguay  leaves  possess  when  newly  gathered  and 
roasted  for  use. 

Of  course  the  general  effect  of  these  beverages  upon  the 
system  is  the  combined  result  of  the  simultaneous  action  of 
all  their  constituent  ingredients.  But  possessing  the  two 
characteristic  influences  of  retarding  the  change  of  matter, 
and  of  increasing  at  the  same  time  the  activity  of  the  ner- 
vous life,  they  cannot,  according  to  our  present  knowledge, 
be  replaced  by  the  strongest  soups  or  flesh  teas,  or  by  any 
other  infusions  or  decoctions  which  merely  supply  the  ordi- 
nary kinds  of  nourishment  in  more  or  less  diluted  and  digest- 
ible forms. 

In  some  countries  it  is  the  custom  to  heighten  the  natu- 
ral flavour  of  roasted  coffee  by  the  addition  of  spices.  Thus 
M.  de  Saulcy,  in  his  recent  tour  round  the  Dead  Sea,  found 
the  Bedouins  in  the  country  of  ancient  Moab  drinking  coffee, 
of  which  he  says  that  it  was  “ an  absolute  decoction  oi 
cloves.”  * On  the  Continent,  and  in  North  and  South 


* Journey  round  the  Dead  Sea,  vol.  i.  p.  810. 


EXTENT  OF  THEIR  CULTIVATION. 


193 


America,  vanilla  is  said  to  be  employed  largely  for  flavour- 
ing coffee  as  well  as  chocolate.  To  the  other  more  natural 
influences  of  coffee  these  spices  add  a stimulating  effect, 
which  appears  to  expend  itself  chiefly  upon  the  animal  pro- 
pensities. 

A perusal  of  the  history  of  these  beverages  leaves  lin- 
gering in  our  minds  so me  interesting  general  facts,  which  are 
suggestive  of  many  thoughts. 

The  first  is,  the  vast  extent  to  which  the  materials  for 
these  beverages  are  cultivated  and  used,  and  the  important 
place  they  occupy  among  what  may  be  called  the  artificial 
necessities  of  life.  Our  data  for  forming  correct  calculations 
as  to  the  quantity  of  each  beverage  which  is  grown  and 
consumed  are  very  defective,  but  we  may  guess  them 
at  about — 


Chinese  Tea, 

2240  millions  of  pounds. 

Mat6, 

20 

Coffee, 

600 

Chicory, 

so  „ 

Cocoa, 

100  „ 

forming  an  aggregate  of  nearly  3000  millions  of  pounds  of 
the  raw  materials  consumed  annually  in  the  preparation  of 
the  beverages  we  infuse. 

Nor  is  the  number  of  people  to  whom  these  warm  bev- 
erages have  become  necessaries  of  life  less  surprising, 
Thus— 


Is  consumed  in 

By  about 

Chinese  tea, 

j China,  Russia,  Tartary,  England,  ) 
I Holland,  and  North  America,  j 

500  millions  of  men. 

Mate  or  Paraguay  tea, 

Peru,  Paraguay,  Brazil,  &c. 

10 

„ 

W 

Coffee-tea, 

Sumatra,  &c. 

2 

n 

Coffee-bean, 

( Arabia,  Ceylon,  Jamaica,  Ger-  ) 
( many,  France,  j 

• 100 

» 

» 

Chicoiy, 

j Germany,  Belgium,  France,  Eng- ) 
1 land,  f 

• 40 

M 

Cocoa, 

j Spain,  Italy,  France  Central  ) 
{ America,  J 

• 50 

W 

#» 

194 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


So  that  upon  these  four  plants  about  three-fifths  of  the  whole 
human  race  are  dependent  for  one  of  their  most  useful  and 
most  harmless  forms  of  indulgence. 

A second  point  which  strikes  us  in  the  history  of  these 
beverages — at  least  of  the  teas  and  coffees — is,  that  they 
have  come  more  and  more  into  use  in  Europe  and  America, 
as  the  intellectual  activity  which  distinguishes  the  leading 
nations  of  modern  times  has  developed  itself.  The  kind  of 
ordinary  food  upon  which  the  consumers  of  these  beverages 
usually  live  no  doubt  modifies  the  influence  they  exercise 
upon  the  system.  It  is  even  probable  that  the  nature  of 
this  food  is  one  of  the  causes  which  determine  the  preference 
given  to  tea  or  to  coffee  by  the  different  European  nations. 
And,  reasoning  from  this  probability,  we  might  say  that  there 
is  too  much  of  mere  vulgar  nutrition  in  cocoa  to  allow  it  to 
influence  the  nervous  or  intellectual  life  to  an  equal  degree 
with  tea  and  coffee ; and  in  this  we  might  find  a reason  for 
the  less  prominent  intellectual  position  which  has  been  occu- 
pied by  Spain  and  Italy,  since  cocoa  has  become  an  article 
of  such  universal  consumption  amongst  them. 

A third  striking  fact  is,  that  the  poorest  and  humblest 
among  us,  who  has  his  own  little  earnings  to  spend,  devotes 
a small  part  of  it  to  the  purchase  of  tea  or  coffee.  He  can 
barely  buy  bread  and  milk,  or  potatoes  and  salt,  yet  the  cup 
of  tea  or  coffee  is  preferred  to  the  extra  potato  or  the  some- 
what larger  loaf.  And  if  thereby  his  stomach  is  less  filled, 
his  hunger  is  equally  stayed,  and  his  comfort,  both  bodily 
and  mental,  wonderfully  increased.  He  will  probably  live 
as  long  under  the  one  regimen  as  the  other ; and  while  he 
does  live,  he  will  both  be  less  miserable  in  mind,  and  will 
show  more  blood  and  spirit  in  the  face  of  difficulties,  than  if 
he  had  denied  himself  his  trifling  indulgence.  Besides  the 
mere  brickwork  and  marble,  so  to  speak,  by  which  the  hu* 
man  body  is  built  up  and  sustained,  there  are  rarer  forms  of 


THEIR  CONSUMPTION  BY  THE  POOR. 


195 


matter,  as  these  chapters  have  shown,  upon  which  the  life 
of  the  body  and  the  comfort  of  animal  existence  most  essen- 
tially depend.  This  truth  is  not  unworthy  the  consideration 
of  those  to  whom  the  arrangement  of  the  dietaries  of  our 
prisons,  and  other  public  institutions,  has  been  intrusted. 
So  many  ounces  of  gluten,  and  so  many  of  starch  and  fat, 
are  assigned  by  these  food-providers  as  an  ample  allowance 
for  everyday  use.*  From  these  dietaries,  except  for  the 
infirm  and  the  invalid,  tea  and  coffee  are  for  the  most  part 
excluded.  And  in  this  they  follow  the  counsel  of  those  who 
have  hitherto  been  regarded  as  chief  authorities  on  the  che- 
mistry of  nutrition.  But  it  is  worthy  of  trial  whether  the 
lessening  of  the  general  bodily  waste,  which  would  follow 
the  consumption  of  a daily  allowance  of  coffee,  would  not 
cause  a saving  of  gluten  and  starch  equal  to  the  cost  of  the 
coffee ; — and  should  this  not  prove  the  case,  whether  the  in- 
creased comfort  and  happiness  of  the  inmates,  and  the  greater 
consequent  facility  of  management,  would  not  make  up  for 
the  difference,  if  any.  The  inquiry  is  an  interesting  one  in 
physiological  economies,  and  it  is  not  undeserving  of  the  se- 
rious attention  of  those  benevolent  minds  which,  in  so  many 
parts  of  our  Islands,  have  found  in  the  prisons  and  houses 
of  correction  their  most  favourite  fields  of  exertion. 

I might  add,  as  a stimulus  to  such  experiments,  the  evi- 
dent craving  for  some  such  indulgence  as  a kind  of  natural 
necessity,  which  is  manifested  in  the  almost  universal  prac- 
tice among  every  people  not  absolutely  savage,  of  preparing 
and  drinking  beverages  of  this  sort.  If  there  be  in  the  hu- 
man constitution  this  innocent  craving,  it  cannot  be  mis- 
placed humanity  to  minister  to  it,  even  in  the  case  of  the 

* See  the  Author’s  Elements  cf  Agricultural  Chemistry  and  Geology , sixth 
edition,  p.  394. 


196 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


depraved  and  convicted.  Where  reformation  is  aimed  at> 
the  moral  sense  will  be  found  most  accessible  where  the 
mind  is  maintained  in  most  healthy  activity,  and  where  the 
general  comfort  of  the  whole  system  is  most  effectually  pro 

(noted. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


THE  GRAPE  AND  CANE  SUGARS. 


mineral  sweets. — Vegetable  sweets. — Number  of  these  known  to  modern  nations.— 
The  grape  sugars ; their  sensible  and  chemical  characters. — Honey  sugars.— Tre- 
bizond  honey. — Poisoning  of  Xenophon’s  soldiers. — Fruit  sugars. — Starch  or  po- 
tato sugar,  manufacture  of — Sugar  from  rags,  from  sawdust,  and  from  Carrigeen, 
Ceylon,  and  Iceland  mosses. — The  cane  sugars.— Spread  of  the  sugar  cane  from 
Asia  through  Europe  to  America. — Varieties  of  the  sugarcane. — Nutritive  quali- 
ties of  the  raw  cane  juice. — Extensive  consumption  of  it. — Composition  of  the 
sugar  cane. — Manufacture  of  cane  sugar. — Difficulties  in  the  manufacture. — Great 
loss  of  sugar  in  consequence. — Improvements  in  the  manufacture,  and  their  effects 
on  West  Indian  prosperity.— Total  produce  of  cane  sugar  in  the  world.— Consump- 
tion of  sugar  in  the  United  Kingdom. — Sensible  and  chemical  characters  of  cane 
sugar. — Beet  or  European  sugar. — Its  importance  on  the  continent  of  Europe. — 
Number  and  produce  of  the  manufactories  of  France,  Germany  and  Russia. — 
Composition  of  the  sugar  beet.— Difficulties  in  extracting  the  sugar. — Progress  of 
the  manufacture.  — Its  chemico-agricultural  relations. — Palm  or  date  sugars. — 
Quantity  produced  yearly. — Maple,  or  North  American  sugar. — Quantity  produced 
in  Canada,  New  England,  and  New  York. — Mode  of  extraction. — Chemical  changes 
in  the  maple  sap.— Maize,  or  Mexican  sugar;  manufacture  of,  in  the  United  States, 
and  in  France. — Sorghum  sugar,  the  cane  of  the  north. — Total  quantity  of  sugar 
extracted  for  use. — Chemistry  in  its  economical  and  social  relations. 

In  common  life,  the  sweets  we  extract  are  a constant  accom- 
paniment of  the  beverages  we  infuse.  At  least,  as  we  use 
them  in  Europe  and  America,  sugar  is  a usual  addition  to 
the  infusions  of  tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa. 

Of  substances  which  are  sweet  to  the  taste,  the  chemist 
is  familiar  with  many  which  have  no  relation  to  the  wants 


198 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


or  usages  of  common  life.  Sugar  of  lead  is  a well  known 
poison,  which  derives  its  name  from  the  sweetness  of  its  taste. 
Silver  in  certain  of  its  compounds  * is  equally  sweet.  A 
mineral  earth  called  glucina  (from  y\vKvs , sweet),  produces 
many  compounds  which  have  a sugary  taste  when  first  put 
into  the  mouth;  and  numerous  other  instances  might  be 
named.  It  is  only  those  sweet  substances,  however,  which 
exist  in  or  are  extracted  from  plants,  that  are  directly  con- 
nected with  our  modern  comforts.  These  sweets  not  only 
accompany,  on  our  tables,  the  beverages  we  infuse,  but  are 
the  ingredients  from  which  our  brewers  and  distillers  manu- 
facture the  liquors  we  ferment.  They  fall  naturally  to  be 
considered,  therefore,  in  this  place. 

Of  these  vegetable  sweets,  modern  nations  use  many  va- 
rieties. In  such  substances  as  luxuries  of  life,  we  are,  in- 
deed, far  richer  than  any  of  the  ancient  nations.  Thus,  to 
the  honey,  grape,  manna,  and  fruit  sugars,  which  were  the 
principal  sweets  of  the  ancient  world,  we  now  add  the  cane, 
maple,  beet,  maize,  and  palm  sugars.  We  manufacture  sugar 
also  from  potatoes  and  other  substances  rich  in  starch ; from 
sea-weeds  gathered  by  the  shore ; even  from  sawdust  when 
an  emergency  arises ; and  we  extract  it  from  the  milk  of 
our  domestic  cattle.  It  has  become  to  us,  in  consequence, 
almost  a necessary  of  life.  We  consume  it  in  millions  of 
tons  ; we  employ  thousands  of  ships  in  transporting  it.  Mil- 
lions of  men  spend  their  lives  in  cultivating  the  plants  from 
which  it  is  extracted,  and  the  fiscal  duties  imposed  upon  it 
add  largely  to  the  revenue  of  nearly  every  established  gov- 
ernment. It  may  be  said,  therefore,  to  exercise  a more  di- 
rect and  extended  influence  not  only  over  the  social  comfort 
but  over  the  social  condition  of  mankind,  than  any  other  pro 
duction  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  with  the  exception,  per 
haps,  of  cotton  alone. 

* One  called  the  hyposulphite  of  silver,  for  example,  is  very  sweet. 


THE  GRAPE  SUGAR. 


199 


The  numerous  varieties  of  useful  sugars  with  which  we 
aro  acquainted,  may  be  arranged  under  four  main  kinds  or 
heads.  These  are  the  grape  sugars,  the  cane  sugars,  the 
manna  sugars,  and  milk  or  animal  sugar.  I shall  treat  of 
each  in  its  order. 

I.  The  Grape  Sugars  include,  as  varieties,  the  sugar  of 
the  grape,  the  sugars  of  honey,  the  sugar  of  fruits,  and  potato 
or  starch  sugar. 

1°.  Grape  sugar. — When  the  ripe  grape  is  dried  in  the 
air,  it  forms  the  well-known  raisin  of  commerce.  When  this 
raisin  is  opened,  numerous  whitish  crystalline  brittle  granules 
are  seen  within  it,  which  are  sweet  to  the  taste.  These  consist 
of  what  is  called  grape  sugar,  and  they  are  the  source  of  the 
sweetness  both  of  the  grape  and  the  raisin.  It  dissolves 
readily  in  water,  and  if  yeast  be  added  to  the  solution,  soon 
enters  into  fermentation. 

The  results  of  this  fermentation  are,  first,  a spirituous 
liquor  resembling  weak  wine,  and  afterwards,  as  the  fermen- 
tation proceeds,  an  acid  liquor,  like  sour  wine  or  vinegar. 

In  Syria,  a sweet  preparation  is  made  from  the  juice  of 
the  grape.  It  consists  chiefly  of  grape  sugar,  and  is  exported 
to  Egypt  under  the  name  of  clips  or  dibs* 

2°.  Honey  sugars. — The  bee  has  been  long  known  and 
admired  for  its  industry,  and  the  honey  it  collects  indulged 
in  as  a luxury.  This  honey  is  formed,  or  naturally  de- 
posited, in  the  nectaries  of  flowers,  and  is  extracted  from 
them  by  the  working  bees.  They  deposit  it  in  their  crop  or 
honey-bag,  which  is  an  expansion  of  the  gullet  (oesophagus), 
and  from  this  receptacle  they  disgorge  it  again  when  they 
return  to  the  hive.  In  the  interval,  it  is  probably  somewhat 

* In  Genesis,  xliii.  11,  this  word  is  translated  honey,  though  the  sweet  of  the 
grape  is  probably  meant.  Dibs  is  also  the  word  used  for  Samson’s  honey  (Judges, 
xiv.  8),  though  is  also  the  word  now  employed  in  Syria  and  Egypt  to  denote  the 

honey  of  the  bee. 


200 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


altered  by  admixture  with  the  liquids  which  are  secreted  in 
the  mouth  and  crop  of  the  insect — so  that  the  honey  we  ex- 
tract from  the  hive  may  not  be  exactly  in  the  same  chemical 
condition  as  when  it  was  sucked  up  from  the  flowers  by  the 
laborious  bee. 

When  liquid  honey  is  allowed  to  stand  for  a length  of 
time,  it  gradually  thickens  and  consolidates.  By  pressure  in 
a linen  bag,  it  may  then  be  separated  into  a white  solid 
sugar,  consisting  of  minute  crystals,  which  remain  in  the 
bag,  and  a thick  semi-fluid  syrup  which  flows  through  it.  In 
old  honey  the  proportion  of  syrup  is  often  small,  the  sugar 
of  the  syrup  gradually  crystallising  in  greater  quantity. 
Both  the  solid  and  liquid  sugars  have  the  same  general  pro- 
perties. They  are  both  equally  sweet ; both  have  the  same 
chemical  composition,  and  both  begin  to  ferment  when  water 
and  a little  yeast  are  added  to  them.  The  solid  sugar  of 
honey  is  identical  with  the  sugar.of  the  grape.  The  liquid 
sugar  differs  from  the  solid  chiefly  in  refusing  to  crystallise, 
and  in  containing  an  admixture  of  colouring  and  odoriferous 
substances  produced  by  the  flowers  from  which  the  bee  has 
extracted  it. 

To  these  foreign  substances  honey  owes  the  varied 
colours,  flavours,  and  fragrances,  which  in  different  countries 
and  districts  it  is  known  to  possess,  and  for  which  it  is  often 
highly  prized.  Hence  the  estimation  in  which  the  honey  of 
Mount  Ida,  in  Crete,  has  been  always  held.  Hence  also  the 
perfume  of  the  Narbonne  honey,  of  the  honey  of  Chamouni, 
and  of  our  own  high  moorland  honey  when  the  heather  is  in 
bloom.  Sometimes  these  foreign  substances  possess  narcotic 
or  other  dangerous  qualities,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Trebi* 
zond  honey,  which  causes  headache,  vomiting,  and  even  a 
kind  of  intoxication  in  those  who  eat  it.  This  quality  it  de- 
rives from  the  flowers  of  a species  of  rhododendron  (Azalea 
pontica),  from  which  the  honey  is  partly  extracted.  It  was 


FRUIT  SUGARS. 


201 


probably  this  kind  of  honey  which  poisoned  the  soldiers  of 
Xenophon,  as  described  by  him  in  the  retreat  of  the  Ten 
Thousand.* 

3°.  Fruit  sugars . — Many  of  our  fruits  pass,  in  the 
course  of  ripening,  from  a sour  to  a sweet  state.  The  apple, 
the  pear,  the  plum,  the  peach,  the  gooseberry,  the  currant,  the 
cherry,  &c.,  are  of  this  kind.  Most  of  them,  even  when  fully 
ripe,  are  still  a little  acid ; the  mixture  of  sweet  and  sour  in 
their  juices,  adding  to  their  agreeable  and  refreshing  qualities. 
All  such  fruits,  as  a general  rule,  contain,  and  owe  their 
sweetness  to,  grape  sugar.  From  many  of  them  this  sugar 
can  be  readily  extracted  for  use  ; but,  in  general,  it  is  more 
economical  and  agreeable  to  employ  it  in  the  form  of  dried 
and  preserved  fruits,  or  to  make  wine  of  it,  as  we  do  of  that 
which  exists  in  the  grape,  the  gooseberry,  the  apple,  and  tho 
pear. 

4°.  Potato  or  starch  sugar . — It  is  a property  of  starch 
of  all  kinds  to  be  insoluble  in  cold  water,  but  to  dissolve 
readily  in  boiling  water,  and  to  thicken  into  a jelly  or  paste 
as  it  cools.  Even  a lengthened  boiling  in  water,  however, 
produces  little  further  change  upon  it.  But  if  a small  quan- 
tity of  sulphuric  acid  (oil  of  vitriol)  be  added  to  the  water 
in  which  it  is  boiled,  the  solution  gradually  acquires  a sweet 


* The  effects  of  tills  honey  upon  his  soldiers  are  thus  described  by  Xenophon — 
“ And  there  was  there  (in  a village  near  Trebizond)  a number  of  bee-hives ; and  as 
many  of  the  soldiers  as  ate  of  the  honey-combs  became  senseless,  and  were  seized 
with  vomiting  and  diarrhoea;  and  not  one  of  them  could  stand  erect.  Those  who 
had  swallowed  but  little,  looked  very  like  drunk  men ; those  who  ate  much  were 
like  madmen ; and  some  lay  as  if  they  were  dying.  And  thus  they  lay  in  such  num- 
bers, as  on  a field  of  battle  after  a defeat.  And  the  consternation  was  great.  Yet  no 
one  was  found  to  have  died ; all  recovered  their  senses  about  the  same  hour  on  the 
following  day.  And  on  the  third  or  fourth  day  thereafter,  they  rose  up  as  if  they  had 
suffered  from  the  drinking  of  poison.”— Xenophon,  Anabasis , book  iv.  chap.  8, 
Ta  5e  07x771/77,  &c. 

Auguste  St  Hilare,  while  travelling  in  the  Brazils,  experienced  symptoms  of  poi- 
soning after  having  eaten  of  honey  extracted  by  a native  bee  from  a plant  belonging, 
to  the  poisonous  family  of  Apocynacea,  or  dogbanes. 


202 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


taste,  and  ultimately  the  whole  of  the  starch  is  converted 
into  grape  or  honey  sugar.  A pound  of  acid  diluted  with 
a hundred  pounds  of  water,  and  employed  in  this  way, 
will  convert  into  sugar  a great  many  pounds  of  potato, 
wheaten,  or  sago  starch.  If  the  acid  be  then  separated  by 
lime,  and  the  liquor  boiled  down,  either  a rich  syrup  or  a 
solid  sugar  may  be  obtained.  Or,  instead  of  sulphuric  acid, 
we  may  mix  with  the  water,  12  or  15  lbs.  of  malt  for  every 
100  lbs.  of  starch;  heat  for  three  hours  to  160°  or  170° 
Fahr.,  and  then  filter  and  evaporate  the  syrup.  Sugar  thus 
prepared  from  starch  has  the  same  sweetness,  chemical  com- 
position, and  general  properties  as  that  of  the  grape.  It 
does  not  always  crystallise  readily,  however,  and  in  this  re- 
spect has  more  resemblance  to  the  liquid  sugar  of  honey 
than  to  the  solid  sugar  of  the  dried  grape.  It  is  used  for 
ordinary  sweetening  purposes,  for  adulterating  cane  sugar, 
and  for  the  manufacture  of  spirituous  liquors.  On  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  it  is  largely  prepared  for  all  these  uses. 
The  syrup  is  extensively  employed  by  the  French  confec- 
tioners, and  brandy  distilled  from  it  is  very  generally  drunk 
in  northern  Europe.  The  manufacture  of  starch  sugar  is 
illegal  in  this  country. 

Instead  of  starch,  woody  fibre  may  be  employed  for  the 
manufacture  of  this  kind  of  sugar.  Paper,  raw  cotton  and 
flax,  cotton  and  linen  rags,  and  even  saw-dust,  may  be  trans- 
formed into  sugar  by  digestion  in  diluted  sulphuric  acid. 
The  operation  is  only  a little  slower,  and  therefore  requires 
more  time.  This  is  partly  explained  by  the  fact  that  the 
acid  first  changes  the  fibre  into  starch,  and  then  the  starch 
further  into  sugar. 

It  is  known  that  many  sea-weeds,  when  boiled  in  water, 
yield  a jelly  which  is  wholesome,  nutritious,  and  more  or 
less  agreeable  to  the  palate.  Among  these  are  the  well- 
known  Carrigeen  moss  (Chondrus  crispus  and  ma?nillosus)} 


THE  CANE  SUGARS. 


203 


which  is  collected  in  large  quantities  on  the  west  coast  of 
Ireland,  and  the  Ceylon  moss  ( Plocaria  Candida which 
is  exported  from  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  to 
the  markets  of  China.  The  jelly  yielded  by  these  sea- 
weeds, as  well  as  by  the  Iceland  and  other  land  mosses,  is 
in  like  manner  converted  into  grape-sugar,  when  digested 
with  diluted  sulphuric  acid. 

The  number  of  vegetable  substances,  therefore,  which  by 
means  of  this  acid  can  be  transformed  into  the  sugar  of 
honey  and  fruits,  is  very  great.  Starch,  however,  is  the 
only  one  to  which  the  process  has  hitherto  been  applied 
with  a profit.  The  way  in  which  these  singular  transforma- 
tions of  matter  are  brought  about,  will  be  illustrated  at  the 
close  of  the  succeeding  chapter. 

5°.  Elderberry  sugar . — In  the  berries  of  the  elder  tree 
( Sorbus  aucuparia ),  a peculiar  species  of  sugar  has  recently 
been  discovered,  to  which  M.  Pelouze  has  given  the  name 
of  sorbine.  In  the  degree  of  sweetness  it  possesses,  and  in 
chemical  composition,  it  agrees  with  grape  sugar;  but  it 
differs  from  it  in  its  other  properties,  and  in  its  crystalline 
form.  As  yet,  however,  this  variety  of  sugar  is  of  no  eco- 
nomical value. 

II.  The  Cane  Sugars. — The  plants  or  fruits  which 
possess  distinctly  acids  or  sour  juices,  yield  grape  sugar. 
Those  which  have  little  acid  in  their  saps,  contain  for  the 
most  part  cane  sugar.  The  chemical  reason  for  this  is,  that, 
by  the  action  of  acid  substances,  cane  sugar  is  gradually 
transformed  into  grape  sugar,  even  in  the  interior  of  the 
growing  plant.  The  principal  varieties  of  cane  sugar  known 
in  commerce,  are  the  cane  sugar  properly  so  called,  beet 
sugar,  palm  or  date  sugar,  maple  sugar,  and  maize  sugar. 

I °.  Sugar  cane  or  Chinese  Sugar . — The  sugar  cane  (fig. 
36)  is  the  chief  source  of  the  sugar  of  commerce.  About 


204 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


eleven-twelfths  of  all  the  sugar  extracted  for  use  is  obtained 
from  this  plant.  Though  almost  unknown  to  the  Greek? 

and  Romans,  and  now  cultivated 
most  extensively  in  America,  it  is  a 
native  of  the  Old  World.  It  was 
familiar  in  the  East  in  most  remote 
times,  and  appears  to  have  been 
cultivated  in  China  and  the  South 
Sea  Islands  long  before  the  period 
of  authentic  history.  Through  Si- 
cily and  Spain  it  reached  the  Cana- 
ry Islands,  thence  was  transplanted 
to  St.  Domingo  by  the  Spaniards 
in  1520,  and  from  this  island 
it  has  gradually  spread  over  the 
West  Indies  and  the  tropical  re- 
gions of  the  American  continent.  It 
flourishes  best  where  the  mean 
temperature  is  from  75°  to  77° 
Fahr.;  but  it  thrives,  and  can  be 
economically  cultivated  where  the 
mean  temperature  does  not  exceed 
66°  to  68°  Fahr.  Hence  it  is 
grown  far  beyond  the  tropics.  And 
although  the  countries  most  pro- 
ductive in  sugar,  and  which  yield  it  at  the  least  cost,  lie  for 
the  most  part  within  the  torrid  zone  and  at  low  elevations, 
— yet  the  sugar  cane  is  profitably  grown  in  some  parts  of  the 
south  of  Europe ; on  the  table-land  of  Nepaul,  in  India,  at 
a height  of  4500  feet,  and  on  the  plains  of  Mexico,  as  high  as 
4000  to  6000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  rarely 
ripens  its  seed,  however,  even  in  the  most  propitious  locali- 
ties. Young  plants  are  raised,  therefore,  from  portions  of 
the  stem  planted  for  the  purpose  ] and  when  cultivated  for 


Fig.  36. 


Saccharum  ojflcinarum — 
The  Sugar  Cane. 
Scale.  1 inch  to  4 feet 


THE  STRIPED  CA.IE  OF  LOUISIANA. 


205 


Fig.  87V 


sugar,  they  are  rarely  allowed  to  come  to  flower  as  is  repre- 
sented in  fig.  36. 

There  are  many  varieties  of  the  sugar  cane,  as  there  are 
of  nearly  all  long-cultivated  plants.  In  general,  the  varieties 
most  common  in  each  country  and  district  are  best  adapted 
to  the  local  climate  and  to  the  soils  in  which  they  grow. 
Those  which  yield  the  sweetest  juice,  and  in  the  greatest 
abundance,  if  otherwise  suited  to  the  climate,  are  the  most 
esteemed.  In  Louisiana,  five  different  varieties  are  culti- 
vated, one  of  the  most  elegant  of  which  is  represented  in  tb* 
annexed  drawing, 

(fig.  37.)  In  each 
locality  that  variety 
is  selected  by  the 
planter  which  he 
finds  to  give,  on  the 
whole,  the  most  sure 
and  profitable  crop.* 

And  so  in  our  West 
India  colonies  the 
Tahati  cane  was  in- 
troduced as  a new 
variety,  because  in 
the  same  time,  and 
from  the  same  extent 
of  land,  it  yielded 
one  fourth  more 
juice  than  the  com- 
mon varieties,  while 
it  produced  also  a 
larger  and  more  so. 
lid  growth  of  wood 
to  be  used  as  fuel.f 

In  Europe  and  Striped  Cane  of  Louisiana. 

* American  Patent  Office  Report,  1848.  P.  281. 

t Meyen,  Geog  Plants , p.  382. 


m 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


most  northern  countries,  cane  sugar  is  only  an  article  ol 
luxury,  though  one  with  which  many  would  now  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  dispense.  In  many  tropical  regions,  however,  the 
sugar  cane  forms  a staple  part  of  the  ordinary  food.  The 
ripe  stalk  of  the  plant  is  chewed  and  sucked  after  being  made 
soft  by  boring  it,  and  almost  incredible  quantities  are  con- 
sumed in  this  way.  Large  ship-loads  of  raw  sugar  cane  are 
daily  brought  to  the  markets  of  Manilla  and  Rio  Janeiro; 
and  it  is  plentiful  in  the  market  of  New  Orleans.  In  the 
Sandwich  and  many  other  islands  of  the  Pacific,  every  child 
has  a piece  of  sugar  cane  in  its  hand  ; while  in  our  own  sugar 
colonies  the  negroes  become  fat  in  crop  time  on  the  abun- 
dant juice  of  the  ripening  cane.  This  mode  of  using  the  cane 
is,  no  doubt,  the  most  ancient  of  all,  and  was  well  known  to 
the  Roman  writers.  Lucan  (book  iii.  237)  speaks  of  the 
eaters  of  the  cane  as — 

“Quique  bibunt  tenera  dulces  ab  arundine  succos.” 

— “ And  those  who  drink  sweet  juices  from  the  tender 
reed.” 

This  nutritive  property  of  the  raw  juice  of  the  sugar 
cane  arises  from  the  circumstance  that  it  contains,  besides 
the  sugar  to  which  its  sweetness  is  owing,  a considerable  pro- 
portion of  gluten,  as  well  as  of  those  necessary  mineral  sub 
stances  which  are  present  in  all  our  staple  forms  of  vegetable 
food.  It  is  thus  itself  a true  food,*  capable  of  sustaining 
animal  life  and  strength  without  the  addition  of  other  forms 
of  nourishment.  This  is  not  the  case  with  the  sugar  of  com- 
merce, which,  though  it  in  a certain  sense  helps  to  nourish 
us,  is  unable  of  itself  to  sustain  animal  life. 

The  juice  of  the  sugar  cane  varies  in  composition  and 
richness  whh  the  variety  of  cane,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the 
mode  of  cultivation,  and  the  dryness  of  the  season.  Its 


♦ See  The  Bkead  we  bat. 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  SUGAR  CANE.  207 

average  composition  in  sugar  plantations,  when  the  canes  are 
fully  ripe,  is  about — 


Sugar, 

18  to  22 

Water  and  gluten 

71 

Woody  fibre, 

10 

Saline  matter 

1 

100 

The  richness  in  sugar  varies  with  many  circumstances, 
and  especially  with  what  is  called  the  ripeness  of  the  cane. 
For  it  is  a curious  circumstance  in  the  chemical  history  of 
this  plant  that  the  sap  sweetens  only  to  a certain  distance  up 
the  stem ; the  upper  somewhat  green  part,  which  is  still 
growing,  yielding  abundance  of  sap,  but  comparatively  little 
sugar.  One  reason  of  this  probably  is,  that  as  fast  as  the 
sugar  ascends  with  the  sap,  it  is  converted  into  woody  mat- 
ter, which  is  built  in  to  the  substance  of  the  growing  stem 
and  leaves.  In  consequence  of  this  want  of  sweetness,  the 
upper  part  of  the  cane  is  cut  off,  and  only  the  under  ripe 
part  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  sugar.  In  Louisiana, 
where  the  canes  rarely  ripen  so  completely  as  in  the  West 
Indies,  the  proportion  of  sugar  contained  in  the  juice  is  set 
down  as  low  as  12  to  14  per  cent.* 

For  the  extraction  of  the  sugar,  the  canes  are  cut  with 
a large  knife,  the  labourer  proceeding  between  the  rows  (fig, 
38).  The  leaves  and  tops  are  then  chopped  off  and  left  in 
field,  while  the  under  ripe  part  is  carried  to  the  mill.  These 
ripe  canes  are  passed  between  heavy  iron  crushing-rollers, 
which  squeeze  out  the  juice.  This  juice  is  run  into  large 
vessels,  where  it  is  clarified  by  the  addition  of  lime  and  othei 
applications.  The  action  of  this  lime  is  twofold.  It  re- 
moves or  neutralises  the  acid  which  rapidly  forms  in  the 
fresh  juice,  and  at  the  same  time  combines  with  the  gluter 


* Patent  Office  Report,  1844 


208 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


Fig.  38. 


of  the  juice,  and  carries  it  to  the  bottom.  This  gluten  acts 
as  a natural  ferment,  causing  the  sugar  to  run  to’ acid.  Its 

speedy  removal,  there- 
fore, is  essential  to 
the  extraction  of  the 
sugar.  After  being 
clarified  in  this  way, 
and  sometimes  filter- 
ed, the  juice  is  boiled 
rapidly  down,  is  then 
run  into  wooden  ves- 
sels to  cool  and  crys- 
tallise, and,  finally, 
when  crystallised,  is 
put  into  perforated 
casks  to  drain.  What 
remains  in  these  casks 
is  Muscovado  or  raw 
sugar  ; the  drainings 
are  well  known  by  the 
name  of  molasses. 

Simple  as  this  pro- 
cess is  in  description, 
it  is  attended  with 
many  difficulties  in 
practice.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  sqeeze  the  whole  of  the  juice  out  of  the  cane — it  is  dif- 
ficult to  clarify  the  juice  with  sufficient  rapidity  to  prevent  it 
from  fermenting,  and  so  completely  as  to  render  skimming  un- 
necessary during  the  boiling — it  is  difficult  to  boil  it  down 
rapidly  without  burning  or  blackening,  and  thus  producing 
much  uncrystallisable  molasses — and  it  is  difficult  afterwards 
to  collect  and  profitably  employ  the  whole  of  the  molasses  thus 
produced.  The  difficulties,  though  none  of  them  insur 
mountable,  have  hitherto  proved  so  formidable  in  practice, 


Cane  plantation  in  Louisiana. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  MANUFACTURE. 


209 


that,  of  the  18  per  cent,  of  sugar  contained  in  the  average 
cane-juice  of  our  West  India  Islands,  not  more  than  6 per 
cent.,  or  one-third  of  the  whole,  is  usually  sent  to  market  in 
the  state  of  crystallised  sugar  ! The  great  loss  which  thus 
appears  to  take  place  is  thus  accounted  for — 

First , — Of  the  90  per  cent,  of  sweet  juice  which  the  cane 
contains,  only  50  to  60  per  cent,  are  usually  expressed. 
Thus  one-third  of  the  sugar  is  left  in  the  megass,  or  squeezed 
cane,  which  is  used  for  fuel — (Kerr.) 

Second, — Of  the  sugar  in  the  juice,  one-fifth  or  more  is 
lost  by  imperfect  clarifying,  and  in  the  skimmings  removed 
during  the  boiling — (Sheir.) 

Third , — Then  of  the  juice  when  boiled  down  to  the 
crystallising  point  and  set  to  cool,  only  from  one-half  to  two- 
thirds  crystallises : the  rest  drains  off  as  molasses.  Thus 
of  the  whole  sugar  of  the  ripe  cane — 

One-third  is  left  in  tho  megass,  . . 6 per  cent. 

Onc-third  of  the  remainder  in  the  skimmings,  2|  “ 

Ono-third  to  one-half  of  the  second  remainder 
in  the  molasses,  ....  3 “ 

in  the  Muscovado  sent  to  market  there  are  6£  “ 

18 

The  molasses  and  skimmings  are  fermented  and  distilled 
for  rum.  But  even  of  the  molasses  much  is  lost,  the  drain- 
age from  the  raw  sugar  of  the  West  Indies,  while  at  sea, 
is  stated  at  15  per  cent.,  and  afterwards,  in  the  docks,  at  2 
per  cent.  And  further,  the  leakage  of  the  molasses  itself, 
which  is  shipped  as  such,  is  20  per  cent. ; so  that  of  the  un- 
uncystallisable  part  of  the  sugar,  also,  there  is  a large  waste. 
In  the  interior  of  Java,  where  fuel  is  scarce,  the  molasses  is 
worthless,  and  is  sent  down  the  rivers  in  large  quantities ; 
but  in  the  West  Indies  it  has  everywhere  a market  value, 
und  may  be  distilled  with  a profit. 

The  sugar  manufacture,  therefore  of  our  Wes>  [ndia 


210 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


colonies,  appears  as  a whole  to  be  in  a most  unsatisfactory 
condition.  Neither  mechanical  nor  chemical  means  have 
been  applied  to  it  as  they  have  been  to  the  sugar  manufac* 
ture  of  Europe  ; and  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  pecuniary 
difficulties  should  of  late  years  have  gathered  round  the  un- 
improving planters.  The  same  skill  which  now  extracts  7 
per  cent,  of  refined  sugar  from  the  more  difficult  beet,  might 
easily  extract  10  or  12  from  the  sugar  cane.  Were  this 
result  generally  attained,  the  same  weight  of  canes  which  is 
now  grown  in  the  West  Indies,  and  which  yields  less  than 
half  the  quantity  of  crystallised  sugar  actually  consumed  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  would  alone  produce  enough  to  supply 
the  entire  present  home  consumption. 

The  means  by  which  this  better  result  is  to  be  attained 
are,  the  use  of  improved  crushing  rollers,  by  which  70  and 
even  75  per  cent,  of  juice  can  be  forced  from  the  canes — of 
better  modes  of  clarifying,  which  chemical  research  has  re- 
cently discovered — of  charcoal  filters  before  boiling,  which 
render  skimming  unnecessary — of  steam  and  vacuum  boilers, 
by  which  burning  is  prevented,  and  rapid  concentration  ef- 
fected— of  centrifugal  drainers  to  dry  the  sugar  speedily  and 
save  the  molasses — and  of  coal  or  wood  as  fuel  where  the 
crushed  cane  is  insufficient  for  the  purpose.  By  the  use  of 
such  improvements,  planters  in  Java,  in  Cuba,  and,  I be- 
lieve, here  and  there  in  our  own  colonies,  are  now  extracting 
and  sending  to  market  10  to  12  per  cent,  of  raw  sugar  from 
the  100  lb.  of  canes  ! Why  should  our  own  enterprising  West 
India  proprietors  spend  their  time  in  vain  regrets  and  long- 
ings for  the  past,  instead  of  earnestly  availing  themselves  of 
those  scientific  means  of  bettering  themselves  which  are  wait- 
ing to  be  employed,  and  which  are  ready  to  develop  therm 
selves  to  meet  every  new  emergency  ? It  is  not  the  readier 
or  cheaper  supply  of  labour  which  gives  the  Dutch  planter 
of  Java,  or  the  Spanish  planter  of  Cuba,  10  per  cent,  of 


HOW  IT  IS  TO  BE  IMPROVEL. 


211 


marketable  sugar,  but  better  machinery  and  more  refined 
chemical  applications.  And  these  are  surely  as  much  within 
the  reach  of  British  subjects  as  of  any  other  people  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

The  total  quantity  of  sugar  extracted  from  the  sugar 
cane  over  the  whole  globe,  has  been  estimated  by  Stolle  at 
4527  millions  of  pounds.  Of  this  the  largest  proportion  is 
yielded  by  the  British  East  and  West  Indies.  The  consump- 
tion in  the  United  Kingdom  amounts  at  present  to  about 
two-elevenths  of  the  enormous  quantity  above  stated.  In 
1853  our  home  consumption  amounted  to  818  millions  of 
pounds  of  raw  sugar.  This  is  equal  to  28  lb.  of  sugar  per 
head  of  the  population,  and  the  quantity  is  rapidly  increasing. 
TIow  wonderful  a change  in  the  tastes  and  habits  of  the  people 
does  this  imply  since  the  year  1700,  when  the  quantity  con- 
sumed in  England  was  only  22  millions  of  pounds  ! And  the 
consumption  per  head  in  Great  Britain  is  considerably  more 
than  the  above  28  lb.,  because  the  average  consumption  per 
head  in  Ireland,  of  which  no  separate  account  has  been  kept 
since  1826,  is  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  British  con- 
sumption. 

An  acre  of  land  in  the  West  Indies  yields,  according  to 
the  present  mode  of  extraction,  from  1 to  3,  or  even  4 tons 
of  sugar,  and  for  each  ton  of  sugar  about  70  gallons,  or 
1400  lb.  of  marketable  molasses.  At  an  average  of  3 tons 
an  acre  of  sugar  and  molasses,  it  requires  upwards  of  130 
thousand  acres  of  rich  land  to  produce  the  sugar  yearly  con- 
sumed in  the  British  Islands  ! 

The  cane  sugars  are  popularly  distinguished  from  the 
grape  sugars  by  greater  sweetness  or  sweetening  power. 
This  is  said  to  be  greater  in  the  proportion  of  five  to  three. # 

* The  sense  by  which  we  appreciate  the  sweetness  of  bodies  is  liable  to  singular 
modifications.  Thus  the  leaves  of  the  Gymnema  sylvestre — a plant  of  Northern 
India— when  it  is  chewed,  takes  away  the  power  of  tasting  sugar  for  twenty-four 
hours,  without  otherwise  injuring  the  general  sense  of  taste. 

10 


212 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT, 


They  also  dissolve  more  readily  in  water.  One  pound  of 
cold  water  dissolves  3 lb.  of  cane,  but  only  1 lb.  of  grape 
sugar.  The  solution  is  also  thicker  and  more  syrupy,  less 
liable  to  change  or  run  to  acid,  crystallises  more  readily, 
and  gives  a harder  candy.  These  superior  economical  pro- 
perties sufficiently  account  for  the  preference  so  universally 
given  to  this  species  of  vegetable  sweet. 

Chemically  the  cane  differs  from  the  grape  sugars,  in 
containing  less  of  the  elements  of  water,  in  being  charred  or 
blackened  by  strong  sulphuric  acid  (oil  of  vitriol),  and  in 
not  readily  throwing  down  the  red  oxide  of  copper  from  so- 
lutions of  blue  vitriol  (sulphate  of  copper).  By  the  action 
of  diluted  acids  cane  sugar  is  converted 
into  grape  sugar,  and  hence  the  reason 
why,  as  I have  already  said,  cane  sugar 
is  rarely  found  in  plants  which  have  acid 
juices,  and  why  the  souring  of  the  cane 
juice  changes  a portion  of  its  crystallis- 
able  sugar  into  uncrystallisable  syrup  or 
molasses. 

2°.  Beet  root  or  European  sugar. — • 
The  root  of  the  beet,  and  especially  of 
the  variety  called  the  sugar-beet  (fig.  39), 
contains  often  as  much  as  a tenth  part  of 
its  weight  of  sugar.  By  squeezing  out 
the  juice,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sugar 
cane,  or  by  dissolving  out  the  sugar  from 
the  sliced  root  and  boiling  down  the  so- 
lution, the  raw  sugar  is  obtained.  In 
this  state  the  sugar  possesses  a peculiar, 
unpleasant  flavour,  derived  from  the 
beet-root ; but  when  refined,  it  is  scarce- 
Beale, IXmina to.  ly  distinguishable  in  any  respect  from 
foot  that  of  the  sugar  cane. 


BEET  SUGAR  MANUFACTURE. 


213 


The  manufacture  of  this  sugar  is  one  of  great  and  grow- 
ing importance,  especially  in  France,  Belgium,  Germany, 
and  Russia.  Its  history  also  illustrates  in  a very  striking 
way  how  chemical  skill  may  overcome,  as  it  were,  the  per- 
versities of  climate,  and  establish,  upon  an  artificial  basis, 
an  important  national  interest,  which  shall  successfully  com- 
pete in  the  markets  of  the  world  with  the  most  favoured  na- 
tural productions  of  the  choicest  regions  of  the  globe. 

As  early  as  1747,  Margraaf,  in  Berlin,  drew  attention  to 
the  large  quantity  of  sugar  contained  in  the  beet,  and  recom- 
mended its  cultivation  for  the  manufacture  of  sugar.  Fifty 
years  later  the  attempt  was  made  in  Silesia,  under  royal 
patronage ; but  as  only  two  or  three  per  cent,  of  crystallised 
sugar  could  be  extracted,  the  work  failed  and  was  aban- 
doned. Later,  again,  the  continental  system  of  Napoleon  I. 
which  raised  the  price  of  sugar  to  five  shillings  (six  francs) 
a pound,  and  especially  the  offer  of  a prize  of  a million  of 
francs  for  the  successful  manufacture  of  sugar  from  plants 
of  home  growth,  stimulated  to  new  trials  both  in  Germany 
and  France.  New  methods,  new  skill,  new  machinery,  and 
the  results  of  later  chemical  research,  were  all  applied,  and 
with  the  aid  of  high  duties  on  foreign  sugar,  the  manufac- 
ture struggled  on  through  a period  of  very  sickly  infancy. 
In  Germany  fewer  improvements  were  introduced,  so  that 
the  new  manufactories  erected  in  that  country,  during  the 
reign  of  Napoleon  were  one  after  another  given  up;  but  in 
France  they  became  so  firmly  established,  that  even  after 
the  cessation  of  the  continental  system  few  of  them  were 
abandoned.  A more  complete  extraction  of  the  sap,  a 
quicker  and  easier  method  of  clarifying  and  filtering  it,  and 
the  use  of  steam  to  boil  it  down,  enabled  the  French  maker 
to  extract  4 to  5 per  cent,  of  refined  sugar  from  the  1 00  lbs. 
of  beet,  and  thus  to  conduct  his  operations  with  a profit.  In 
this  improved  condition  the  manufacture,  after  a struggle 


214 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


of  twenty  years,  returned  again  towards  the  north,  and 
spread  not  only  over  Belgium  and  the  different  states  of 
Germany,  but  over  Poland,  and  into  the  very  heart  of  Rus- 
sia. At  the  present  time,  not  less  than  362  millions  of 
pounds  of  beet  sugar  are  manufactured  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  This  is  equal  to  about  per  cent,  of  all  the  sugar 
consumed  in  the  world.  The  proportion  extracted  in  the 
different  countries  named  is  nearly  as  follows  : — 


Number  of 
Manufac- 
tories. 

Averago  pro- 
duce of  each 
Manufactory. 

Total  Produce  of 
the  country. 

Russia,  . 

360 

200,000  lbs. 

70,000,000  lbs. 

France,  . 

334 

440,000  „ 

150,000,000  „ 

German  Customs  Union, 

237 

560,000  „ 

130,000,000  „ 

Belgium,  . 

80 

400,000  „ 

12,000,000  „ 

There  are,  besides,  some  manufactories  in  Austria  which 
produce  on  an  average  160,000  pounds  of  sugar  each. 

The  extraction  of  sugar  from  the  beet  has  lately  been 
attempted  in  Ireland,  and,  as  I am  informed,  with  some 
measure  of  success.  Little  is  publicly  known,  however,  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  company  by  which  the  attempt  has 
been  made. 

The  average  composition  of  the  root  of  the  sugar  beet  of 
France,  Belgium,  and  the  Rhenish  provinces,  is  nearly  as 
follows  : — 


Sugar,  . 
Gluten,  . 
Fibre,  &c.; 
Water, 


10| 

3 

5 

8H 

100 


But  this  proportion  of  sugar  varies  very  much.  Thus  it 
is  greater, — 


PROPORTION  OF  SUGAR  VARIES. 


215 


a In  small  beets  than  in  large. 

b In  some  varieties,  as  in  the  white  Schleswick  pear- 
shaped  beet,  and  in  a spindle-shaped,  red-skinned,  white- 
fleshed  variety,  both  much  cultivated  in  Germany. 

c In  dry  climates,  and  especially  where  the  climate  is 
dry  after  the  roots  have  begun  to  swell. 

d In  light  potato  or  barley  than  heavy  soils. 
e In  the  part  under  than  above  ground. 
f When  manure  has  not  been  directly  applied  to  the 
crop. 

These  facts  show  how  much  practical  agriculture  has  to 
do  with  the  success  of  this  important  manufacture.  The  dif- 
ference of  climate,  soil,  and  mode  of  culture  have  so  much 
effect,  that,  while  the  beets  of  Lille,  a southern  centre  of  the 
manufacture,  do  not  average  more  than  10  to  12  per  cent,  of 
sugar,  those  of  Magdeburg,  a more  northern  centre,  contain 
from  12  to  14  per  cent.  Under  certain  very  favourable  con- 
ditions, as  much  as  18  per  cent,  of  sugar  has  been  found  in 
the  beet  of  North  Germany.  The  proportion  of  sugar  is  so 
much  less  in  the  part  that  grows  above  ground,  that  it  is  not 
unfrequently  cut  off  and  fed  to  cattle.  This  reminds  us  of 
the  want  of  sweetness  in  the  upper  part  of  the  sugar  cane, 
(p.  251),  and  the  reason  is  probably  the  same  in  both  cases, 
that  the  sugar  is  in  these  parts  transformed  into  woody 
matter. 

The  average  proportion  of  sugar  extracted  in  Belgium 
and  France,  is  6 lb.  from  every  hundred  of  fresh  root.  In 
fcorne  well-conducted  manufactories,  it  is  said  to  reach  7,  and 
even  7^1b.  from  the  hundred.  In  Germany,  the  average 
yield  is  at  present  7 or  more ; and  improvements  now  on 
trial  are  expected  to  raise  it  to  8 lb.  from  the  hundred. 

The  mode  of  extraction  is  very  simple.  In  France  and 
Belgium  the  root  is  ground  to  a pulp  between  saw-toothed 
rollers,  a small  stream  of  water  trickling  over  the  teeth  to 


216 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


keep  them  clean.  This  pulp  is  put  into  hags,  and  submitted 
to  strong  pressure,  by  which  the  juice  is  squeezed  out,  while 
the  solid  matter  remains  in  the  form  of  a dry  cake.  This 
juice  is  treated  with  lime,  heated,  filtered,  boiled  down  by 
steam  to  the  crystallising  point,  and  then,  as  in  the  case  of 
cane  sugar,  cooled  and  drained  from  the  molasses.  From  the 
beet,  the  molasses  thus  obtained  is  colourless,  but  it  has  a 
disagreeable  taste,  and  cannot,  therefore,  like  cane  molasses, 
be  directly  employed  for  any  sweetening  purpose.  The  raw 
sugar  has  also  an  unpleasant  taste,  and  is  in  consequence 
refined,  for  the  most  part,  before  it  is  brought  to  market. 

In  Germany,  it  is  more  usual  to  slice  the  beet,  and  to 
wash  out  the  sugar  with  hot  water,  treating  the  solution  after- 
wards as  above  described.  The  happy  discovery  of  Melsens, 
of  Brussels,  that  sulphurous  acid  * has  the  property  of 
arresting  fermentation  in  sweet  juices,  has  been  of  much 
service  in  making  this  German  method  of  extraction 
available. 

It  is  interesting  to  remark  how  new  improvements  in  this 
manufacture  constantly  make  known  new  chemical  difficulties, 
and  present  new  chemical  and  agricultural  problems  to  be 
solved.  The  first  great  difficulty  was,  to  prevent  the  fer- 
mentation of  the  juice,  the  production  of  acid,  and  the  simul- 
taneous waste  of  sugar  and  conversion  of  a part  of  it  into 
uncrystallisable  syrup.  The  second  was,  to  boil  it  down  so  as 
to  prevent  burning,  and  the  production  of  uncrystallisable 
molasses.  The  former  has  been  overcome  by  various  chemi- 
cal means,  and  the  latter  by  the  use  of  steam.  But  as 
the  yield  of  sugar  approached  to  7 per  cent.,  it  was  found 


* Sulphurous  acid  is  the  name  given  by  chemists  to  the  strong-smelling  fumes 
given  off  by  burning  sulphur.  In  one  proportion,  it  forms  with  lime  sulphite  of  lime; 
in  twice  this  proportion  it  forms  Z»i-sulphite  ( pis  twice).  This  bisulphite  is  soluble  in 
water,  and  a little  of  the  solution  added  to  the  weak  sugary  liquors  prevents  them 
from  fermenting. 


APPLICATIONS  OF  CHEMISTR  . 


217 


that  certain  syrups  remained  behind,  which,  though  they  cer- 
tainly contained  cane  sugar,  refused  stubbornly  to  crystallise ; 
and  the  reason  of  this  was  traced  to  the  presence  of  saline 
matter,  chiefly  common  salt,  in  the  sap.  This  salt  forms  a 
compound  with  the  sugar,  and  prevents  it  from  crystallising. 
And  so  powerful  is  this  influence,  that  1 per  cent,  of  salt  in 
the  sap  will  render  3 per  cent,  of  the  sugar  uncry stallisable. 
To  overome  this  difficulty,  new  chemical  inquiries  were  neces- 
sary. As  results  of  these  inquiries,  it  was  ascertained — 

First , That  the  proportion  of  sugar  was  larger,  and  of 
salt  less,  in  beets  not  weighing  more  than  five  pounds.  The 
first  practical  step,  therefore,  was,  that  the  sugar  manufac- 
turers announced  to  the  cultivators  who  raised  the  beet,  that 
in  future  they  would  give  a less  price  for  roots  weighing 
more  than  five  pounds. 

Next,  That  a crop  raised  by  means  of  the  direct  appli- 
cation of  manure,  - contained  more  salt,  and  gave  more 
uncrystallisable  syrup,  than  when  raised  without  direct 
manuring.  A larger  price,  therefore,  was  offered  for  roots 
grown  upon  land  which  had  been  manured  during  the 
previous  winter ; a higher  still  for  such  as  were  raised  after 
a manured  crop  of  corn  ; and  a still  higher  when,  after  the 
manuring,  two  crops  of  corn  were  taken  before  the  beet  was 
sown. 

Thus,  the  difficulty  was  lessened  by  chemico-agricultural 
means  ; and  though  the  crop  was  less  in  weight  to  the  farmer, 
the  higher  price  he  obtained  in  some  degree  made  up  the 
difference. 

In  France  and  Belgium,  the  crops  gathered  average  14  or 
,5  tons  an  acre,  while  about  Magdeburg  they  do  not  exceed 
10  or  12  tons.  But  the  latter  are  richer  in  sugar,  and  poorer 
in  salts,  in  proportion.  A method  is  now  under  trial  in 
France  for  separating  the  sugar  from  the  salts  by  a purely 
chemical  operation.  When  this  is  effected,  the  crops  may  be 


218 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT 


forced  by  manure  as  our  turnip  crops  are,  and  a larger  yield 
obtained  without  fear  of  injuring  the  sugar  extractor  by  a 
superabundance  of  salts.* 

One  other  point  in  this  history  is  very  interesting,  as 
illustrative  of  the  way  in  which  a tax  upon  manufacturing 
industry  may  be  made  actually  to  promote,  instead  of  retard- 
ing its  advancement ! The  tax  on  beet  sugar  within  the 
bounds  of  the  German  Customs  Union  (Zollverein),  is  le- 
vied, not  on  the  sugar  actually  produced,  but  upon  the  weight 
of  raw  beets  employed  by  the  manufacturer.  It  is  assumed 
that  the  roots  will  yield  5 per  cent.,  or  one-twentieth  of  their 
weight  of  sugar;  and  then  upon  every  20  cwt.  of  roots  a tax 
of  two  dollars  is  imposed.  According  to  the  assumed  yield 
of  sugar,  this  is  equal  to  a tax  of  two  dollars  on  every  hun- 
dredweight of  sugar.  But  in  reality  it  is  much  less.  By  the 
improved  methods,  one  of  sugar  can  now  be  extracted  from 
about  fourteen  of  the  root ; and  the  more  he  can  extract, 
the  less  duty  in  proportion  the  manufacturer  pays.  Thus 
he  is  continually  stimulated  to  improve  his  methods.  The 
absolute  gain  which  he  derives  from  an  increased  produce 
per  cent.,  is  enchanced  by  the  peculiar  satisfaction  which 
arises  from  the  consciousness  that  every  additional  pound 
he  extracts  is  duty  free. 

And  the  profit  he  thus  makes  is  at  the  same  time  a source 

* It  is  stated,  also,  that  Mr.  Hertz,  a partner  in  a large  sngar  manufactory  near 
lleidelburg,  has  made  improvements  by  means  of  which,  among  other  advantages,  he 
can  extract  from  his  beet  9 per  cent,  of  pure  sugar. 

1°.  He  dries  the  roots  whole  in  ovens,  and  thus  can  keep  them  all  the  year  round 
and  work  them  when  most  convenient. 

2°.  He  washes  out  the  Sugar  in  vacuo.  This  excludes  the  air,  prevents  fermenta- 
tion, more  fully  extracts  the  sugar,  enables  him  to  work  in  warm  as  well  as  in  cold, 
weather,  and  thus,  in  the  course  of  the  year,  to  work  up  three  times  the  material 
with  the  same  plant. 

TLere  may  be  some  exaggeration  in  the  alleged  results  of  these  methods,  but  the 
Idea  of  extracting  the  sugar  in  vacuo  is  certainly  good,  if  it  can  be  economically 
effected,  and  generally  applied. 


PALM  OR  DATE  SUGAR,  OR  JAGGERY. 


219 


of  gain  to  others.  It  is  the  character  of  all  scientific  pro- 
gress, that  an  advanced  step  taken  in  one  country  is  at  once 
a signal  for  similar  steps  in  other  countries,  and  an  assurance 
that  they  will  by-and-by  be  taken.  Thus  the  improvements 
which  arise  out  of  the  fiscal  regulations  of  the  German  Zoll- 
verein  are  gradually  introduced  into  the  boiling-houses  of 
Cuba,  and,  more  slowly  perhaps,  yet  certainly  in  the  end, 
will  render  more  perfect  and  profitable  the  planting  opera- 
tions of  our  own  West  India  colonies. 

3°.  Palm  or  date  sugar , or  Jaggery. — Most  trees  of  the 
palm  tribe,  when  their  top-shoot,  or  spadix  as  it  is  called,  is 
wounded,  yield  a copious  supply  of  sweet  juice.  When  boiled 
down,  this  juice  gives  a brownish  raw  sugar,  known  in  India 
by  the  name  of  jaggery.  The  date  palm  ( Phoenix  dactyli • 
fera , p.  94)  affords  this  juice  and  sugar.  The  gommuti 
palm  ( Saguerus  saccharifer ); 
fig.  40,  is  still  more  produc- 
tive, and,  in  the  Moluccas  and 
Philippines,  yields  much  su- 
gar. The  sap  of  the  cocoanut 
tree  is  boiled  down  in  the 
South  Sea  Islands  till  it  has 
the  consistence  of  a brown 
syrup,  resembling  very  much 
the  molasses  which  drains 
from  raw  cane-sugar ; but  the 
wild  date-palm  ( Phoenix  syL 
vestris)  is  the  largest  known 
sugar-producer.  From  this 
tree  it  is  said  that  60,000 
tons,5*  or  130  million  pounds, 
are  yearly  extracted.  Of  this 
quantity,  5000  tons,  orl  1 mil- 

* Archer’s  Popular  Economic  Botany , p.  140. 


Fig.  40. 


Saguerus  saccharifer — Tho 
Gommuti  Palm. 

Scale,  1 inch  to  20  fee . 


220 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


lion  pounds,  are  extracted  in  Bengal  alone.  Indeed,  the 
chief  production  as  well  as  consumption  of  this  date  sugar  is 
in  India.  A small  proportion  of  it  is  imported  into  this 
country,  sometimes  under  its  true  name  of  jaggery,  but  often, 
also,  under  that  of  cane  sugar. 

This  palm-sugar,  indeed,  from  whichever  of  the  trees  it 
is  extracted,  is  exactly  the  same  species  of  sugar  as  is  yield- 
ed by  the  sugar  cane.  It  differs  chiefly  in  the  flavour  of  the 
molasses  which  drains  from  and  colours  the  raw  sugar. 
When  refined,  it  cannot  be  distinguished  from  refined  West 
India  sugar.  The  flavour  of  the  molasses  is  not  unpleasant, 

so  that  it  is  readily  eaten  by 
the  natives  of  the  various 
tropical  regions  in  which  the 
palm  trees  grow. 

The  total  known  produce 
of  palm  sugar  is  estimated 
at  220  million  pounds.  This 
is  bout  one- twenty-fourth 
part  of  all  the  cane  sugar  ex- 
tracted for  useful  purposes. 

Other  non-acid  fruits, 
like  the  melon,  the  chestnut, 
and  the  cocoa-nut,  contain 
cane  sugar,  but  it  is  not  ex- 
tracted from  them  as  an  ar- 
ticle of  commerce. 

4°.  Maple  or  North 
American  sugar . — The  su- 
gar maple  ( Acer  sacchari - 
num ),  fig.  41,  grows  abun- 
dantly in  the  northern  parts 
of  New  England,  along  the 
lakes  and  in  the  British  pro- 


Fig.  41. 


Acer  8acc?iarinum—-The  Sugar  Maple. 
Scale,  1 inch  to  30  feet. 

Leaf,  1 inch  to  5 inches. 


MAPLE  SAP,  SUGAR,  AND  HONEY.  221 

vinces  of  North  America.  The  four  States  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, Vermont,  New  York,  and  Michigan  produce  together 
upwards  of  20  million  pounds,  and  the  Canadas  together 
about  7 jnillion  pounds  of  maple  sugar.  The  settlers  gen- 
erally, when  they  clear  their  virgin  farms,  reserve  a few  trees 
to  make  sugar  for  the  use  of  their  families ; but,  in  many 
places,  extensive  natural  forests  of  maple  trees  still  cover 
fertile  tracts  of  uncultivated  country,  and  there  the  sugar  is 
manufactured  in  large  quantities.  The  average  yield  of  each 
tree  is  estimated  in  Lower  Canada  at  1 lb.  a head ; and  the 
right  of  making  the  sugar  is  there  rented  out  by  the  pro- 
prietor at  one-fifth  of  the  supposed  produce,  or  one  pound  of 
sugar  for  every  five  trees.  When  the  month  of  March  ar- 
rives, the  sugar-makers  start  for  the  forest,  carrying  with 
them  a large  pot,  a few  buckets  and ' other  utensils,  their 
axes  and  a supply  of  food.  They  erect  a shanty  where  the 
maple  trees  are  most  numerous,  make  incisions  into  as  many 
as  they  can  visit  twice  a-day  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
the  sap,  boil  down  this  sap  to  the  crystallising  point,  and 
pour  it  into  oblong  brick-shaped  moulds,  in  which  it  solidi- 
fies. In  this  way,  in  the  valley  of  the  Chaudi^re,  from  3000 
to  5000  pounds  of  sugar  are  sometimes  made  during  the  sea- 
son of  two  months  by  a single  party  of  two  or  three  men. 

It  is  a singular  circumstance  in  the  chemical  history  of 
the  sap  of  this  tree,  that  the  first  which  flows  for  some  time 
after  the  incision  is  made,  is  clear,  colourless,  and  without 
taste.  After  standing  a day  or  two  this  sap  becomes  sweet ; 
and  a few  days  after  the  sap  has  begun  to  run,  it  flows  sweet 
from  the  tree.  The  last  sap  which  the  tree  yields  is  thick, 
and  makes  an  inferior  sugar.  When  boiled  carefully  in  earthen- 
ware, or  glazed  pots,  the  clear  sap  gives  at  once  a beautifully 
white  sugar,  and  especially  if  it  be  drained  in  moulds  and 
clayed,  as  is  done  with  common  loaf-sugar.  In  this  pure 
white  condition  it  is  not  to  be  distinguished  from  refined 


222 


TIIE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


cane-sugar.  It  is  identical  with  pure  cane  sugar  in  all  its 
properties. 

For  domestic  use  it  is  generally  preferred  of  a brown, 
and  by  many  of  a dark- brown  colour,  because  of  the  rich 
maple  flavour  it  possesses.  This  flavour,  though  peculiar, 
and  therefore  new  to  a stranger  in  North  America,  soon  be- 
comes very  much  relished.  The  brown  sugar  is  an  article 
of  regular  diet  among  the  Lower  Canadians.  On  fast  days, 
bread  and  maple  sugar,  or  maple  honey,  as  the  molasses  of 
this  sugar  is  called,  are  eaten  in  preference  to  fish.  In  spring, 
when  plentiful,  it  sells  as  low  as  3d.  a-pound ; in  winter  it 
rises  sometimes  as  high  as  6d.* 

It  is  an  interesting  character  of  the  maple  juice,  when 
boiled  to  the  crystallising  point,  that  the  molasses  which 
drains  from  it  is  agreeable  to  the  taste,  and  is  relished  as  a 
domestic  luxury.  In  this  respect  it  is  superior  even  to  the 
molasses  of  the  sugar  cane.  Were  beet  root  molasses  eat- 
able in  a similar  way,  the  manufacture  of  beet  sugar  would 
have  fewer  difficulties  to  overcome  ; and  it  would  have  been 
now  both  easier  to  conduct  and  more  profitable  in  its  results. 

The  total  production  of  maple  sugar  has  been  estimated 
at  45  millions  of  pounds,  or  the  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
fifth  part  (jis)  of  the  whole  quantity  of  cane  sugar  extracted 
for  the  use  of  man.  The  manufacture  of  maple  sugar  dimin- 
ishes yearly  in  proportion  as  the  native  American  forests  are 
cut  down. 

5°.  Maize  or  Mexican  sugar. — The  green  stalks  of  maize 
or  Indian  corn  contain  a sweet  juice,  which,  when  boiled 
down,  yields  an  agreeable  variety  of  cane  sugar.  This  sugar 
was  known  and  extracted  by  the  ancient  Mexicans,  and  was 
in  use  among  them  prior  to  the  Spanish  invasion.  For  this 
reason  I have  distinguished  it  as  Mexican  sugar. 

The  manufacture  of  this  sugar  has  been  attempted  of  late 
years  in  the  United  States,  and  many  persons  have  success- 


* See  the  Author’s  Notes  on  North  America , vol.  i.  p.  303. 


SORGHUM  SUGAR. 


223 


fully  extracted  a sufficiency  for  their  domestic  consumption. 
It  has  not  hitherto,  however,  been  prepared  in  such  quan* 
tity,  or  at  such  a price,  as  publicly  to  compete  in  the  market 
with  sugar  from  the  cane ; but  there  seems  no  reason  why 
this  branch  of  industry  should  not  be  successfully  prosecuted, 
especially  in  those  States  of  the  North  American  Union  which 
are  known  to  be  more  eminently  favourable  to  the  growth 
of  maize. 

The  extraction  of  sugar  from  this  plant  has  also  been 
attempted  in  southern  Europe.  The  only  existing  manu- 
factory of  it  with  which  I am  acquainted  is  in  the  south  of 
France,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Toulouse.  It  produces  only 
about  20,000  lb.  of  sugar  a-year.  But 
that  this  small  manufactory  can  be  pro- 
fitably conducted  in  a climate  less  fa- 
vourable to  maize,  affords  a strong 
presumption  that,  in  the  United  States, 
the  cultivation  of  the  plant  for  its  su- 
gar may  yet  become  an  important 
branch  of  rural  economy. 

6°.  Sorghum  sugar . — In  China, 
under  the  name  of  “ sugar  cane  of  the 
north,”  a species  of  sorghum  is  culti- 
vated for  the  extraction  of  sugar.  This 
plant  is  allied  to  the  Sorghum  vulgare , 
or  dhurra  plant,  (fig.  42),  of  which 
a description  has  already  been  given.* 

This  plant  has  recently  been  intro- 
duced into  France,  and  experiments 
have  been  made  upon  it  by  Mons.  Yil- 
morin.  He  states  that  it  is  capable 
of  yielding,  on  an  average,  from  an 
acre  of  land,  26,000  lb.  of  juice,  con- 
taining from  10  to  13  per  cent,  of 


Fig.  42. 


plant 


* See  The  Bread  we  eat,  p.  89. 


224 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


sugar ; and  that  this  is  more  than  the  average  yield  of  the 
sugar  beet.  It  is  alleged,  however,  that  the  plant  is  adapted 
to  only  a few  parts  of  the  south  of  France.  More  will  no 
doubt  be  heard  of  this  plant  should  further  experiments  con 
firm  the  favourable  opinions  already  formed  of  it. 

The  total  quantities  of  cane  sugar  of  various  kinds,  which 
are  extracted  for  human  use,  have  been  estimated  as  follows 
by  Dr.  Stolle ; — 


Cane  sugar, 

Millions  of 
pounds. 

4527 

Percentage  of  the 
whole  production. 
87.7 

Beet  sugar, 

862 

7.3 

Palm  sugar, 

220 

4.2 

Maple  sugar, 

45 

0.8 

5154 

100 

Wide  differences  exist  among  the  quantities  consumed 
per  head  in  different  countries — I instance  only  a few  exam- 
ples. Thus,  the  yearly  consumption  is,  in 


Russia, 

Belgium,  . 
France, 

United  Kingdom, 
Venezuela, 


H lb.  per  head. 

n 

28  „ 

180!  „ 


With  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  occasion  so  large 
a consumption  in  Venezuela  I am  unacquainted.  Refined 
sugar  is  shipped  to  that  country  largely  from  Europe. 

Before  leaving  this  part  of  my  subject,  I may  be  permit- 
ted, in  the  interest  of  chemical  science,  to  ask  my  reader  to 
reflect — 

1°.  How  important  an  interest,  economical  and  social, 
the  history  of  sugar  extraction  exhibits  to  us  as  depending 
directly  upon  chemical  research  and  progress,  and  upon  the 
diffusion  and  application  of  chemical  knowledge. 

2°.  How  largely  successive  applications  of  this  branch 


VALUE  OF  CHEMISTRY  AS  REGARDS  SUGAR. 


225 


of  knowledge  have  already  benefited  the  manufacture  of 
sugar,  and  aided  in  bringing  this  luxury  within  the  reach  of 
the  poorer  classes ; and  how  much  more  benefit  they  pro- 
mise still  to  confer. 

3°.  And  especially  how  chemistry  has  earned  the  de- 
served gratitude  of  the  European  continent,  by  giving  it 
an  entirely  new  industry,  and  by  making  it  independent  of 
foreign  countries  for  one  of  the  most  esteemed  and  now  al- 
most necessary  luxuries  of  life. 

It  is  not  the  fault  of  chemistry  that  our  West  India  col* 
onies  have  not  equal  cause  to  be  grateful. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT, 


THE  MANNA  AND  MILK  SUGARS. 


Manna  sugars ; their  sensible  and  chemical  characters. — Manna  of  the  ash  ; its  com- 
position and  uses. — Occurrence  of  manna  sugar  in  sea  weeds. — Gum-tree  manna. 
— Other  mannas. — Oak,  larch,  and  cedar  mannas. — Persian  manna. — The  alhagi 
and  tamarisk  mannas. — The  manna  of  the  Scriptures ; trees  supposed  to  produce 
it. — The  real  manna  not  known. — Liquorice  sugar. — Milk  sugar. — Analogies  in 
the  composition  of  cane,  grape,  and  milk  sugar. — How  the  two  former  are  produced 
from  each  other,  from  starch,  and  from  humic  acid. — What  chemists  understand 
by  chemical  reactions. — How  a knowledge  of  these  improves  old  and  gives  rise  to 
new  chemical  arts. — Illustration  in  the  manufacture  of  garancine,  and  the  use  of 
madder  in  dyeing. 


III.  The  Manna  Sugars  form  a third  class  of  sugars 
which  are  distinguished  from  the  grape  and  cane  sugars  by 
three  principal  characters.  First , by  their  chemical  compo- 
sition ; second , by  their  inferior  sweetness  ; and  third , by 
their  not  fermenting  when  mingled  with  yeast.  Of  this 
class,  also,  there  are  several  varieties. 

1°.  Manna  of  the  ash. — Two  species  of  ash,  the  Frazi- 
nus  ornuSj  and  the  F rotundifolia , yield  this  species  of 
sugar.  The  European  supply  is  chiefly  derived  from  Sicily 
and  Calabria.  The  F.  ornus , a small  tree  of  twenty  to 


THE  MANNA  ASH. 


227 


twenty -five  feet  high,  is  there  cultivated  in  plantations  for  tho 
purpose.  In  the  months  of  July  and  August,  when  the  pro- 
duction of  leaves  has  ceased,  the  sap  is  drawn  from  the  tree. 
For  this  purpose,  cross  cuts,  about  two  inches  long  (fig.  43) 
are  made  in  the  stem, 
beginning  at  the  lower 
part  near  the  soil. 

These  are  repeated 
every  day  in  warm 
weather,  extending 
them  perpendicularly 
upwards  along  the  one 
side  of  the  tree,  leav- 
ing the  other  to  be  cut 
in  the  following  year. 

The  sap  flows  from 
these  incisions,  and  is 
sometimes  collected  in 
vessels  and  sometimes 
allowed  to  harden  on 
the  outside  of  the  tree. 

It  is  very  rich  in  sugar, 
and  speedily  concretes 
in  fine  weather  into  the 
manna  of  commerce.  The  quality  of  the  manna  varies  with 
the  age  of  the  tree,  and  with  the  part  of  the  stem  (lower  or 
higher)  from  which  it  flows,  and  with  the  period  of  the  sea- 
son in  which  it  is  extracted.  From  the  upper  incisions, 
from  trees  of  middle  age,  and  in  the  height  of  the  season 
when  the  sap  flows  most  freely,  the  flake  manna,  most  es- 
teemed in  England,  is  obtained  in  largest  quantity. 

Manna — besides  a variable  proportion  of  gum,  which  in 
some  varieties  amounts  to  a third  of  its  weight — contains 
two  kinds  of  sugar.  The  larger  proportion  consists  of  a pe- 


Fig.  43. 


Fraxinm  ornus — The  Manna  Ash,  and  the  mode 
of  collecting  the  manna. 


228 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


culiar,  colourless,  beautifully  crystalline  sugar,  to  which  the 
name  of  ynannite  is  given.  This  forms  from  30  to  60  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  manna,  and  is  properly  the  manna  sugar. 
Mixed  with  this  there  is  from  5 to  10  per  cent,  of  a sugar 
resembling  that  of  the  grape,  and  which  ferments  with  yeast. 
Thus,  the  manna  of  commerce  consists,  on  an  average,  of 
about — 


Manna  sugar,  or  mannite, 

Grape  sugar,  (?).... 
Gum,  with  some  gluten  and  other  matters, 
Water,  . 


Per  cent. 
40 
10 
40 
10 

100 


The  large  admixture  of  gum  diminishes  the  sweetness  of 
the  manna,  and  renders  it  less  useful  as  a substitute  for  cane 
sugar. 

When  newly  extracted,  manna  is  found  to  be  nutritious 
as  well  as  agreeable  to  the  taste ; and  a considerable  quan- 
tity of  it  is  used  as  food,  especially  in  Calabria.  As  it 
becomes  old,  however,  it  acquires  a mild  laxative  quality, 
which  unfits  it  for  use  as  a part  of  the  ordinary  diet.  This 
latter  quality  recommends  it  for  use  as  a medicinal  agent, 
for  which  purpose  it  is  exported  to  various  parts  of  Europe. 
The  quantity  yearly  imported  into  Great  Britain  amounts  to 
about  11,000  lbs.,  nearly  all  of  which  comes  from  Sicily. 

This  medicinal  quality  does  not  reside  in  the  mannite  or 
true  sugar  of  manna,  but  in  the  other  matters  with  which  it 
is  contaminated.  By  itself,  in  the  pure  or  refined  state,  this 
sugar  has  no  appreciable  medicinal  action,  and  were  it  abun- 
dant and  cheap,  might  be  employed  for  ordinary  sweetening 
purposes.  It  is  less  sweet  than  cane  sugar,  and  for  daily 
use  is  not  likely  ever  to  compete  with  the  latter  in  the  mar 
ket. 

It  is  a singular  fact  that  this  peculiar  manna- sugar  exists 


COMPOSITION  OF  MANNA. 


229 


in  many  familiar  sea-weecls.  It  gives  their  sweet  taste  tc 
those  which  are  collected  for  eating  along  various  parts  of 
our  coast,  and  is  found  in  smaller  quantity  in  many  which 
are  not  perceptibly  sweet  to  the  taste.  The  Laminaria 
saccharina , when  quite  dry,  contains  above  12  per  cent.,  or 
one-eighth  part  of  its  weight,  of  mannite.  When  the  plant 
is  dried  in  the  air,  the  sugar  exudes,  and  forms  a white  in- 
crustation on  its  leaves.  The  Hahdrys  siliquosa  contains 


from  5 to  6 per  cent.,  and  even 
sus  1 or  2 per  cent.  (Sten- 
house.)  No  use  is  made  of 
this  sugar  of  sea-weeds,  except 
in  so  far  as  it  assists,  in  some 
cases,  in  making  them  eatable. 

Mannite  in  small  quantity 
may  also  be  extracted  from 
common  celery,  and  from  the 
root  of  the  dandelion ; and  it 
can  be  formed  artificially  from 
cane  sugar. 

2°.  Eucalyptus  sugar , or 
gum-tree  manna. — The  genus 
Eucalyptus,  or  gum  tree  of  the 
colonists  (fig.  44),  forms  a dis- 
tinguishing feature  in  the  land- 
scape and  forest  scenery  of 
Australia  and  Van  Diemen’s 
land.  At  certain  seasons  of 
the  year,  a sweet  substance  ex- 
udes from  the  leaves  of  these 
trees,  and  dries  in  the  sun. 
When  the  wind  blows,  so  as  to 
shake  the  trees,  this  Australian 
manna  is  sometimes  seen  to  fall 
like  a shower  of  snow.  Like 
the  true  manna,  this  sweet  sub- 


the  common  Fucus  vesiculo - 
Fig.  44 


Eucalyptus  resinifera — The  Iron 
Bark  Gum-tree. 

Scale,  1 inch  to  60  feet. 
Leaves,  1 inch  to  5 inches. 


230 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


stance  contains  a peculiar  crystallisable  sugar — different, 
however,  in  composition  and  in  some  of  its  properties  from 
the  mannite  already  described.  Though  it  is  said  to  be 
produced  in  considerable  quantities,  I have  not  learned  that 
it  is  customary  to  collect  it  for  use  as  a sweet,  either  in 
Yan  Diemen’s  land  or  in  Australia.* 

3°.  Other  mannas. — Other  sweet  substances  also  are 
obtained  from  plants,  to  which  the  name  of  manna  has  been 
given.  Thus,  oak  manna  exudes  from  the  leaves  of  a species 
of  oak  common  in  Kurdistan,  and  known  to  botanists  as  the 
Quercus  mannifera , or  manna-bearing  oak.  Larch  manna 
is  a sweet  substance,  which,  in  some  countries,  is  found  upon 
the  European  larch  ( Larix  Europcea)  about  the  month  of 
June.  Cedar  manna  occurs  in  small  globules  on  the 
branches  of  the  Pinus  cedrus.  It  is  brought  from  Mount 
Lebanon,  where  it  sells  as  high  as  20s.  or  30s.  an  ounce. 
It  is  much  esteemed  in  Syria  as  a remedy  for  affections 
of  the  chest.  Persian  manna,  or  Gen , called  alse  Alhagi 
manna,  and  by  the  Arabs  Tereng  jabim,  is  obtained  from 
the  camel’s  thorn  ( Hedysarum  alhagi , Linn.),  a plant  which 
is  indigenous  over  a large  portion  of  the  East.  It  yields 
manna,  however,  only  in  Persia,  Bokhara,  Arabia,  and  Pales- 
tine. Extensive  plains  are  in  these  countries  covered  with 
the  alhagi,  and  it  is  of  great  importance  as  food  for  the 
camels,  as  well  as  for  sheep  and  goats.  From  the  wounds 
produced  by  the  browsing  of  these  animals  the  manna  chiefly 
exudes.  It  is  collected  by  the  Arabs  and  caravans  which 
cross  the  Desert,  and  is  used  as  food.  It  is  gathered  by 
merely  shaking  the  branches. 

Tamarisk  manna  is  obtained  from  the  Tamarix  manni- 
fera, a tree  which  grows  abundantly  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Mount  Sinai.  The  manna  of  the  Old  Testament  is  sup- 

♦ See  the  Author’s  Lectures  on  Agricultural  Chemistry  and  Geology,  2d  edt 
tion,  p.  181. 


MANNA  OF  THE  ISRAELITES.  23 1 

posed  by  some  to  have  been  that  of  the  camel’s  thorn,  and 
by  others  that  of  the  tamarisk.  Both  trees  grow  in  the 
wilderness  of  Sin,  along  certain  parts  of  the  route  of  the  an- 
cient Israelites,  and  both  yield  limited  supplies  of  a sweet 
manna.  If  the  produce  of  either  of  these  trees  was  the 
true  manna  of  the  Israelites,  the  miracle  by  which  they 
were  so  long  fed  with  it  consisted— -first,  in  a wonderful 
multiplication  of  the  produce,  so  as  to  sustain  millions  where 
probably  not  a score  of  persons  could  be  sustained  on  the 
quantity  naturally  produced ; and,  second , in  causing  it  to 
follow  and  fall  daily  around  them  in  parts  of  the  wilderness 
where  none  of  the  trees  grow,  and  in  equal  abundance  all 
the  year  around.  That  is  to  say,  the  sustenance  of  the 
wandering  people  was  the  result  of  a constant  miracle, 
whether  the  manna  was  of  a kind  which  might  or  might  not 
have  been  derived  from  either  of  these  natural  sources. 

In  the  Wady  Feiran — the  Fig.  45. 

valley  which  leads  from  the 
Gulf  of  Suez  towards  Mount 
Sinai  — the  traveller  passes 
through  thick  avenues  of  Tur- 
feh  or  Tarfa  trees  ( Tamar ix 
mannifera , fig.  45),  bending 
over  his  head  like  the  alleys 
of  a garden.  This  tree  re- 
sembles the  weeping 
but  is  still  more  delicate 
appearance,  and  the 
manna  flows  in  drops  from 
extremities  of  its  slender  pen- 
sile boughs.  A small  quanti- 
ty is  collected  and  carried  to 
the  convent  of  Sinai,  where  it  ^ . 

. Tamanx  g allied  mannifera — Th« 

is  prepared  by  boiling  and  put  Manna-bearing  Tamarisk. 

into  Small  tin  cases,  which  are  Flowering  branch,  1 to  5 inches. 


232 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


disposed  of  to  pilgrims  and  other  visitors.  In  this  state  i’ 
resembles  melted  gum  with  small  rounded  grains  in  it,  and 
has  a somewhat  similar  taste,  only  sweeter  and  rather  aro- 
matic.” # The  manna  is  supposed  to  flow  in  consequence  of 
the  puncture  of  the  Coccus  maniparus , an  insect  which  in 
fests  the  tamarisk  trees.  It  exudes  as  a thick  syrup,  which 
during  the  heat  of  the  day,  falls  in  drops,  but  during  tin? 
night  congeals,  and  is  gathered  in  the  cool  of  the  morning 
Its  solution  in  water  readily  ferments.  It  is  eaten  in  Pales 
tine  and  about  Sinai  as  a delicacy,  and,  like  the  cedai 
manna,  is  esteemed  as  a remedy  in  diseases  of  the  chest. 
The  total  quantity  of  this  manna  now  collected  in  the  desert 
of  Sinai  appears  to  be  comparatively  trifling. 

Dr.  Milman  and  Dr.  Lepsius  both  regard  this  sweet  sub- 
stance as  the  manna  of  Scripture,  and  consider  its  properties 
to  be  generally  the  same  as  those  ascribed  by  Moses  to  that 
collected  by  the  children  of  Israel.  Dr.  Robinson,  on  the 
other  hand,  denies  that  their  properties  at  all  correspond. 
I agree  with  Dr.  Robinson.  In  doing  so,  however,  I do  not 
lay  so  much  stress  on  alleged  differences  in  taste,  in  general 
appearance,  &c.,  as  on  the  very  remarkable  property  men- 
tioned in  the  following  passage  : — 

“ And  Moses  said,  Let  no  man  save  of  it  till  the  morn- 
ing. Notwithstanding  they  hearkened  not  unto  Moses,  but 
some  of  them  left  of  it  till  the  morning,  and  it  bred  worms 
and  stank,  and  Moses  was  wroth  with  them.” — (Exodus, 
xvi.  19,  20.) 

This  rapid  putrefaction,  the  smell,  and  the  breeding  of 
worms,  are  properties  which  belong  to  no  known  variety  of 
sweet  vegetable  exudation.  It  implies  something  of  an  ani- 

Bartlett’s  Forty  Days  in  the  Desert , p.  68.  The  figure  I have  given  does  no! 
represent  the  graceful  tree  described  by  Bartlett  It  varies  in  appearance  in  different 
localities,  and  I cannot  find  th  at  any  representation  of  the  entire  tree  has  anywhere 
been  published.  In  a book  so  beautiful  as  Mr.  Bartlett’s  one  might  have  expected 
o find  this  tree,  which  he  describes  so  graphically. 


LIQUORICE  SUGAR. 


233 


rnal  nature,  or  the  presence  in  considerable  quantity  of  a 
substance  analogous  to  the  gluten  of  plants  or  the  fibrin  of 
animals.*  And  the  presence  of  such  a substance,  again,  ac- 
counts for  the  very  nutritious  qualities  ascribed  to  this 
manna>  and  which  is  so  superior  to  that  of  any  other  vege- 
table sweet  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  The  manna  of 
Scripture,  therefore,  I believe  to  be  still  unknown,  as  well  as 
the  immediate  or  natural  source  from  which  it  might  have 
been  derived. 

Orcin  manna. — Orcin  is  a sweet  substance  which  exists 
in  certain  species  of  lichen.  By  Berzelius  it  was  named 
Orcin  sugar,  because  of  its  sweetness ; and  by  Robiquet  it 
was  regarded  as  a variety  of  manna.  In  chemical  composi- 
tion and  properties,  however,  it  is  very  different  from  any 
of  our  common  sweets,  and  it  has  a disagreeable  after-taste, 
which  would  alone  prevent  it  from  finding  a place  among  the 
luxuries  of  life. 

IY.  Liquorice  Sugar. — The  root  of  the  common  liquor- 
ice ( Glycyrrhiza  glabra ),  fig.  46,  contains  a peculiar  sweet 
substance,  which,  when  extracted  with  water,  has  the  pro- 
perty of  becoming  dark-coloured  or  black  in  the  air.  The 
dried  extract  is  known  in  this  country  under  the  names  of 
Spanish  and  Italian  juice,  from  the  countries  in  which  it  is 
most  abundantly  produced.  It  differs  in  flavour  from  all 
the  other  sugars  I have  mentioned ; it  does  not  crystallise, 
and  it  does  not  ferment  when  yeast  is  added  to  it. 

For  medicinal  purposes  the  root  is  largely  cultivated  at 
Mitcham  in  Surrey,  and  other  places.  The  extract  is  im- 
ported partly  in  the  sticks,  known  under  the  name  of  Span- 
ish Liquorice ; and  partly  in  solid  masses,  run  into  boxes 
containing  about  two  hundredweight  each.  In  1850,  about 
500  tons  were  imported.  It  does  not  compete  directly* 


* See  The  Beef  we  cook. 


234  THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 

however,  with  cane  sugar.  A considerable  quantity,  no 
doubt,  is  eaten  as  a sweet,  and  to  give  relief  to  affections  of 
the  throat,  but  the  principal  con- 
sumption is  said  to  be  by  the  brew- 
ers in  the  manufacture  of  porter. 

The  roots  of  Glycyrrhiza  echi - 
nata)  G.  glandulifera , of  Trifo- 
lium alpinum , and  of  Abrus  pre- 
catorius , are  said  to  possess  the 
same  properties  as  the  common  li- 
quorice; and  among  other  sweets 
which  resemble  that  of  liquorice,  is 
one  which  is  found  in  the  root  of 
the  Ononis  spinosa . To  this  va- 
riety the  discoverer  has  given  the 
name  of  Ononid.  It  is  not  likely, 
however,  to  become  of  any  econo- 
mical importance. 

V.  Milk  Sugar.  — Milk  con- 
tains a peculiar  species  of  sugar,  to 
which  the  sweetness  of  milk  i^ 
owing.  When  the  curd  is  separ- 
ated in  the  making  of  cheese,  the 
sugar  remains  in  the  whey,  and  may 
be  obtained  in  the  form  of  crystals 
by  boiling  the  whey  to  a small  bulk, 
and  setting  it  aside  to  cool.  This  sugar  is  hard  and  gritty 
when  crushed  between  the  teeth,  is  less  soluble  and  less 
sweet  than  cane  sugar.  In  Switzerland,  and  some  other 
cheese  countries,  it  is  extracted  for  sale,  but  the  manufacture 
and  consumption  of  milk  sugar  is  on  the  whole  very  trifling. 
In  plants  it  rarely  occurs — the  acorn  being  almost  the  only 
common  vegetable  production  in  which  it  has,  as  yet,  been 
detected. 


Fig.  46. 


Glycyrrhiza  glabra — The 
Liquorice  plant 

Scale,  half  an  inch  to  a foot 


MILK  SUGAR. 


235 


Among  the  most  important  of  the  varieties  of  sugar 
above  described — the  grape,  fruit,  cane,  and  milk  sugars — 
there  exists  a remarkable  analogy  in  chemical  composition. 
They  all  consist  of  the  three  elementary  bodies  already  de- 
scribed under  the  names  of  Carbon,  Hydrogen,  and  Oxy- 
gen.* And  in  all  of  them  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  are  in 
the  proportions  to  form  water,  so  that  we  can,  for  simplicity 
of  language,  say,  that  they  are  composed  of  carbon  and 
water.  The  proportion  of  this  water  is  not  the  same  in  each 
variety  of  sugar,  neither  is  it  always  different.  Thus — 

36  lb.  of  carbon,  and  54  of  water,  form  90  of  crystallised  cane  sugar. 

36  „ 63  „ 99  of  grape  or  fruit  sugar. 

36  „ 54  „ 90  of  milk  sugar. 

Thus,  in  the  larger  proportions  of  water  it  contains,  we 
seem  to  see  a reason  for  the  difference  in  sweetness,  and 
other  properties  which  grape  sugar  exhibits  when  compared 
with  cane  sugar.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  proportions  of 
carbon  and  water  in  crystallised  cane  and  milk  sugars  are 
identical,  and  yet  between  these  two  kinds  of  sugar,  the  dif- 
ference of  properties  is  equally  great.  This  last  is  a very 
remarkable  circumstance,  and  presents  the  first  example, 
which  has  fallen  in  our  way,  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
discoveries  of  modern  chemistry — that  two  compound  sub- 
stances may  consist  of  the  same  elementary  bodies  united 
together  in  the  same  proportions,  and  yet  be  very  different 
from  each  other  in  their  properties. 

Other  kindred  illustrations  of  this  principle  are  pre- 
sented by  the  woody  or  cellular  fibre  (cellulose),  the  starch, 
and  the  gum,  which,  as  I have  explained  (p.  201),  may  bo 
artificially  converted  into  grape  sugar  by  the  action  of  weak 
sulphuric  acid.  Thus — 

86  lb.  of  carbon  united  to  45  lb.  of  water,  form  SI  lb.  cither  of  cellulose,  of  starch,  or 

of  gum. 

* See  chapters  I and  II. — The  Air  we  breathe,  and  the  Water  we  drink, 

li 


236 


THE  SWEETS  WE  EXTRACT. 


And  yet  each  of  these  three  substances  is  very  different  in 
its  properties  from  either  of  the  other  two. 

Again,  the  dark-brown  vegetable  matter  (humic  acid)  to 
which  the  colour  of  soils  is  partly  owing,  consists  of  carbon 
and  water  only,  for 

36  of  carbon,  and  27  of  water,  form  68  of  humic  acid. 

Now,  in  regard  to  substances  so  composed,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult, with  the  aid  of  this  knowledge,  to  form  a general  idea 
of  the  way  in  which  they  may  be  transformed,  one  into  the 
other.  Thus-- 

63  of  humic  acid  united  to  18  of  water,  may  form  81  of  cellulose,  starch,  gum« 
or  sugar. 

81  of  starch,  with  9 of  water,  may  form  90  of  cane  sugar. 

90  of  cane  sugar,  with  9 of  water,  may  form  99  of  grape  sugar. 

And  changes  of  this  kind  really  take  place  in  nature.  Thus 
the  humic  acid  of  the  soil  enters  the  roots  of  plants,  and  in 
the  interior  of  the  plant  is  changed  into  the  cellulose  or 
woody  matter  of  its  growing  shoots,  and  into  the  starch  of 
its  seeds.  The  starch  of  the  tasteless  pear,  of  the  banana, 
and  of  the  bread  fruit  (p.  96),  changes  into  sugar  as  the 
fruit  ripens  and  becomes  sweet.  And  by  the  action  of  acids 
in  the  sour  saps  of  plants,  and  in  somewhat  acid  fruits,  cane 
sugar,  which  is  first  produced,  is  changed  into  grape  sugar. 
In  all  these  cases,  the  substance  which  disappears  only  com- 
bines with  a little  more  water,  to  form  the  new  compound 
which  is  produced. 

And  we  artificially  imitate  these  natural  operations 
when,  in  the  manufacture  of  potato  sugar,  we  transform  the 
starch  of  the  potato  into  a sweet  resembling  the  sugar  of 
grapes,  or  when,  by  the  prolonged  action  of  sulphuric  acid, 
we  change  sawdust  or  rags  into  a similar  sweet. 

In  these  changes,  the  acid  employed  possesses  the  sin- 
gular property  of  causing  the  carbon  of  the  starch  or  woody 
fibre  to  unite  with  a larger  proportion  of  the  elements  of 


TRANSFORMATION  S. 


237 


water,  and  thus  to  assume  the  form  of  grape  sugar.  And  it 
is  out  of  such  observed  reactions  of  bodies — as  such  influ- 
ences are  called — that  new  chemical  arts  are  daily  springing 
up.  Thus  the  manufacture  of  potato  sugar,  already  de- 
scribed, is  a valuable  independent  art,  founded  solely  upon  a 
knowledge  of  this  action  of  sulphuric  acid.  But  many  other 
arts,  besides,  have  been  either  wholly  based  upon,  or  have 
been  greatly  improved,  by  the  application  of  this  property 
I instance  only  the  manufacture  of  a dye-stuff  called  garan - 
cine . 

Madder,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  root  of  a plant  ( Rubia 
tinctorum)  which  is  cultivated  largely  in  certain  parts  of 
Europe,  and  the  Levant,  for  the  sake  of  the  beautiful  red 
colours  it  gives  to  the  fibres  of  cotton  and  wool.  This  root, 
when  dried  and  ground  to  fine  powder,  is  the  common  mad- 
der of  the  dyer.  But,  besides  the  valuable  colouring  matter, 
this  root  contains  gum,  gluten,  mucilage  resembling  that 
obtained  from  Iceland  moss,  and  various  other  substances, 
which  interfere  with  its  use  as  a dye,  and  render  the  use  of 
it  difficult  to  the  dyer,  and  the  colour  it  imparts  in  some 
degree  uncertain.  In  the  course  of  the  many  chemical  in- 
vestigations to  which  this  substance  has  been  subjected, 
however,  it  was  observed,  that  while  sulphuric  acid,  under 
certain  circumstances,  acted  upon  nearly  all  these  useless 
parts  of  the  root,  it  had  no  effect  upon  the  colouring  matter. 
The  former  it  changed  into  easily  soluble  sugar,  or  alto- 
gether destroyed;  while  to  the  latter  it  only  gave  new 
brightness  and  beauty.  The  application  of4his  was  obvious. 
The  ground  root  was  steeped  for  so  many  hours  in  sulphuric 
acid  mingled  with  so  much  water,  and  was  then  washed  per- 
fectly free  from  acid,  and  again  dried.  It  was  now  the 
colouring  matter,  or  garancine , comparatively  pure — in 
some  cases  5,  but  usually  about  3 times  more  powerful  as  a 
dye  than  the  natural  root.  It  was  less  bulky  and  lighter 


238 


THE  BEVERAGES  WE  INFUSE. 


for  carriage  in  proportion,  was  more  easy  to  use,  and  more 
certain  in  the  shades  of  colour  it  gave  to  cloth. 

Thus,  from  the  application  to  madder  root  of  the  observ- 
ed action  of  sulphuric  acid  upon  vegetable  substances  allied 
to  our  sugars,  arose  both  the  new  art  of  making  garanciney 
and  important  improvements  in  the  old  art  of  dyeing. 

Thousands  of  similar  reactions  are  known  to  chemists ; 
and  the  origin  of  almost  every  art  of  life  may  be  traced  to 
the  first  observation  of  some  one  of  the  countless  visible  in- 
fluences which  one  form  of  matter  exercises  over  another. 

Melted  soda  dissolves  sea-sand,  and  the  solution,  when 
cold,  is  our  common  window-glass.  Hence  the  magnificent 
glass-trade  of  our  time. 

Potash  melted  with  hoofs  and  horns,  and  thrown  care- 
lessly into  water  containing  iron,  gave  an  intense  blue  colour. 
This  was  Prussian  blue ; and  hence  a crowd  of  arts  and 
manufactures,  and  of  beautiful  applications  of  chemistry, 
have  sprung  up. 

Every  day  new  arts  sprout  up,  as  it  were,  beneath  our 
feet,  as  we  linger  in  our  laboratories  observing  the  new  reac- 
tions of  probably  new  bodies  ; and  in  each  new  art  is  seen  a 
new  means  of  adding  to  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  mankind, 
of  giving  new  materials  and  facilities  to  commerce,  and  of 
increasing  the  power  and  resources  of  nations. 

For  pleasing  examples  of  such  arts — just  bursting  into 
leaf  like  the  buds  before  our  eyes  in  the  sunshine  of  our 
English  spring — I refer  the  reader  to  a succeeding  chapter 
on  The  Odours^we  enjoy. 


CHAPTER  XU. 

THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 

THE  BEERS. 


Oar  ferm anted  drinks.— Grape  sugar  is  changed  into  alcohol  by  fermentation.— Cane 
sugar  and  starch  converted  into  alcohol. — Production  of  diastase  during  the  sprout- 
ing of  corn. — Action  of  this  substance  upon  starch. — How  the  infant  plant  is  fed. — 
Malt  liquors ; principles  involved  in  the  preparation  of. — The  malting  of  barley.— The 
making  of  beer. — Influence  of  diastase  on  the  processes. — The  fermentation  of  the 
wort. — Influence  of  the  yeast. — How  the  yeast  plant  grows  and  multiplies ; its  re- 
markable influence  still  inexplicable. — Composition  of  beer. — Proportions  of  malt 
extract  and  of  alcohol. — Beer  characterized  by  its  nutritive  quality  and  its  bitter 
principle. — Chica  or  maize  beer  of  South  America. — Maize  malt — Preparation 
of  chica  mascada  or  chewed  chica.— How  the  chewing  promotes  the  process  and 
gives  strength  to  the  chica. — Influence  of  the  saliva. — Chica  from  other  vegetable 
substances. — Bouza  or  millet  beer  of  Tartary,  Arabia,  and  Abyssinia. — Murwa  beer 
of  the  Himalayas. — Chemical  peculiarities  of  these  millet  beers. — Quass  or  rye 
beer. — Koumiss  or  milk  beer;  mode  of  preparing  it ; its  composition  and  nutritious 
qualities. — Lactic  acid  in  this  beer. — Ava,  cava,  or  arva. — Extensive  use  of  this  drink 
among  the  South  Sea  Islanders;  how  it  is  prepared  and  used ; its  narcotic  qualities. 
— Effect  of  chewing  on  the  ava  root. — Ceremonies  attending  its  preparation  and  use 
in  the  Tonga  and  Feqjee  islands. 

The  liquors  we  ferment  are  all  directly  produced,  either 
from  the  natural  sugars  which  we  extract  from  plants,  or 
from  the  sugars  which  we  prepare  by  art.  I shall  briefly 
advert  to  the  most  interesting  and  important  of  these 
liquors  now  in  use  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  The  way 


240 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


in  which  these  drinks  are  prepared,  their  chemical  composi 
tion,  and  their  chemico-physiological  action  upon  the  system, 
are  more  or  less  connected  with  the  common  life  of  almost 
every  people. 

I.  The  Beers. — When  grape  sugar  is  dissolved  in 
water,  and  a little  yeast  is  added  to  the  solution,  it  begins 
speedily  to  ferment.  During  this  fermentation,  the  sugar  is 
split  up  into  three  different  substances — alcohol,  water,  and 
carbonic  acid.*  The  two  former  remains  in  the  liquid  while 
the  carbonic  acid  gas  escapes  in  bubbles  into  the  air. 

When  common  cane  sugar  is  dissolved  in  water  and 
mixed  with  yeast  in  a similar  way,  fermentation  is  induced 
as  before.  The  cane  sugar  is  first  changed  into  grape  sugar 
by  the  action  of  the  yeast,  and  then  the  grape  sugar  is  split 
up  into  alcohol,  water,  and  carbonic  acid.  These  changes 
take  place  in  close  as  well  as  in  open  vessels,  so  that  the  pres- 
ence of  air  is  no  way  necessary  to  their  perfect  and  rapid 
completion. 

If  starch  be  converted  into  grape  sugar  by  the  action  of 
diluted  sulphuric  acid,  or  of  a mixture  of  malt,  as  described 
in  a preceding  chapter,*  and  yeast  be  then  added  to  the 
sweet  solution,  the  same  changes  and  the  same  production 


* This  splitting  up  takes  place  as  foliows : 

Let  C denote  carbon,  H hydrogen,  and  O oxygen— 

C H O 

Then  one  of  grape  sugar,  . . . = 12  14  14 


Two  of  alcohol, 

Four  of  carbonic  acid, 
Two  of  water, 


8 12  4 
4 0 8 
0 2 2 


And  these  together  make 


12  14  14 


So  that  the  substance  of  one  of  grape  sugar  is  split  up  into  two  of  alcohol,  four  of 
carbonic  acid,  and  two  of  water.  This  splitting  up  is  induced  by  the  yeast,  which, 
however,  affords  none  of  the  materials  of  which  the  alcohol,  &c.,  consists. 

* The  Sweets  we  extract,  p.  197. 


STARCH  CHANGED  INTO  SUGAR. 


241 


of  alcohol  take  place.  From  potato  starch,  treated  in  this 
way,  large  quantities  of  spirit  (potato  brandy)  are  manu- 
factured in  France,  Germany,  and  the  northern  countries  of 
Europe. 

But  by  a still  more  beautiful  process  the  starch  of  barley 
and  other  grains  is  converted  into  grape  sugar  before  it  is 
removed  from  the  seed,  and  is  then  split  up  as  before,  by 
means  of  yeast,  into  alcohol,  water,  and  carbonic  acid. 

In  a previous  chapter*  it  has  been  shown  that  these  grains 
consist  essentially  of  two  principal  substances — starch  and 
gluten.  When  moistened,  in  favourable  circumstances,  the 
grain  begins  to  sprout.  The  starch  and  gluten  it  contains 
are,  of  course,  intended  to  form  the  first  food  of  the  young 
plant ; but  these  substances  are  insoluble  in  water,  and 
therefore  cannot,  in  their  natural  state,  pass  onwards  from 
the  body  of  the  seed  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  growing 
germ.  It  has  been  beautifully  provided,  therefore,  that 
both  of  them  should  undergo  chemical  changes  as  the  sprout- 
ing proceeds.  This  takes  place  at  the  base  of  the  germ — 
exactly  where  and  when  they  are  wanted  for  food.  The  glu- 
ten is  changed,  among  other  products,  into  a white  soluble 
substance,  which  has  been  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
diastase , and  the  starch  into  soluble  grape  sugar.  Hence 
the  sweetness  of  sprouted  corn. 

Starch  can  be  transformed  into  sugar,  as  I have  explained 
(p.  201),  by  the  agency  of  a minute  quantity  of  sulphuric 
acid.  It  is  so  transformed  also  by  this  diastase.  Produced 
in  the  sprouting  seed  in  contact  with  the  starch,  the  diastase 
changes  the  latter  into  sugar,  and  makes  it  soluble  in  the  sap 
just  as  it  is  required.  By  this  means  the  infant  plant  ia 
fed. 

The  maltster,  brewer,  and  distiller,  avail  themselves  of 


See  The  Bread  we  eat,  p.  T9. 


242 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


this  natural  change  in  the  constituents  of  sprouting  grain,  " 
and  on  a large  scale  call  into  action  the  remarkable  chemical 
influence  of  diastase.  This  is  abundantly  illustrated  by  the 
chemical  history  of  the  art  of  brewing. 

1°.  Malt  Beers  are  so  called  because  they  are  pre- 
pared, either  in  whole  or  in  part,  from  infusions  of  malted 
barley.  The  manufacture  of  these  drinks  involves  two  dis- 
tinct chemical  processes : first , The  change  of  the  starch  of 
the  grain  into  sugar ; and,  second , The  change  of  the  sugar 
into  spirit-of-wine  or  alcohol.  With  a view  to  the  first  of 
these  ends,  the  grain  is  manufactured  into  malt;  to  attain 
the  second,  it  is  submitted  to  fermentation  through  the  me- 
dium of  yeast. 

a.  The  malt. — The  maltster  moistens  his  barley  in  heaps, 
and  spreads  it  on  a floor  in  a dark  room  to  heat  and  sprout. 
When  the  germ  ( acrospire , he  calls  it)  is  about  to  burst 
from  the  envelope  of  the  seed,  he  arrests  the  growth  by  dry- 
ing the  grain  gently  on  the  floor  of  his  kiln.  It  is  now 
malted  barley,  and  has  a sweet  taste,  showing  that  it  already 
contains  sugar.  Other  grains — such  as  wheat,  oats,  and 
rye — may  be  converted  into  malt  by  a similar  process. 
Even  Indian  corn  is  malted  in  North  America ; and  in 
South  America  this  malt  has  been  used  for  making  beer 
from  the  remotest  times.  In  Europe,  however,  barley  has 
been  found  by  long  experience  to  be  best  adapted  for 
this  process — though  malted  rye  and  wheat  are  employed 
along  with  the  barley  for  the  manufacture  of  some  particular 
kinds  of  beer. 

b.  The  beer . — The  brewer  or  distiller  bruises  the  malt 
and  introduces  it  into  his  mash-tun,  with  water  gently  warm- 
ed to  157°  or  160°  Fahr.  This  water  dissolves  first  the 
sugar  which  has  already  been  formed  in  the  seed,  and  after- 
wards the  diastase.  This  latter  substance  then  acts  upon 
the  rest  of  the  starch  of  the  seed,  converting  it  first  into  a 


THE  BREWING  OF  MALT  BEER. 


243 


species  of  soluble  gum,  and  finally  into  grape  sugar.  If  the 
process  has  been  well  conducted,  little  but  the  husk  of  the 
grain  is  left  undissolved,  and  the  liquor  or  wort  has  a de- 
cidedly sweet  taste. 

Three  circumstances  are  remarkable  in  regard  to  this 
diastase.  First , That  even  in  good  malt,  about  one  pound 
of  diastase  only  is  formed  for  every  hundred  parts  of  starch 
contained  in  the  grain.  Second , That  this  one  pound  of 
diastase  is  sufficient  to  change  a thousand  pounds  of  starch 
into  grape  sugar.  And  third , That  by  heating  the  solution 
containing  it  to  the  boiling  point,  the  diastase  is  killed,  as 
it  were  : its  power  of  changing  starch  into  sugar  is  wholly 
destroyed. 

The  first  and  second  of  these  circumstances  enable  the 
brewer,  if  he  choose,  to  mix  with  his  malt  a certain  portion 
of  starch,  or  of  unmalted  grain.  The  diastase  of  the  malted 
portion  is  sufficient  to  transform  into  sugar,  not  only  the 
whole  starch  of  the  malt,  but  all  the  starch  also  of  the  raw 
grain.  Thus  both  the  expense  and  the  waste  which  would 
attend  the  malting  of  the  latter  is  avoided.  In  this  country 
the  brewer  rarely  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  of  adding 
raw  grain.  Continental  brewers,  however,  and  our  home- 
distillers,  both  practise  it  largely. 

The  third  circumstance  determines  the  time  when  the 
wort  may  be  safely  boiled — which  is  the  next  stage  in  the 
manufacture  of  beer.  The  change  of  all  the  starch  into 
sugar  being  effected,  the  diastase  is  no  longer  of  service,  and 
the  wort  may  be  heated  to  boiling,  with  advantage.  By  this 
higher  temperature  the  action  of  the  diastase  is  stopped,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  albumen  which  the  water  has  dis- 
solved out  of  the  grain  is  coagulated  and  separated  in  flocks. 
Advantage  is  taken  also  of  this  boiling,  to  introduce  the 
hops ; and  these,  besides  imparting  their  peculiar  bitterness 
and  aroma  to  the  liquid,  help  further  to  clarify  it.  Both  the 


244 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


length  of  the  boiling  and  the  quantity  of  hops  added  to  the 
liquid  vary  with  its  richness  in  sugar,  and  with  the  quality 
of  the  beer  it  is  intended  to  make. 

The  boiled  liquor  is  run  off  into  shallow  vessels,  and 
cooled  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  the  best  fermenting  tempera- 
ture, which  lies  between  54°  and  64°  Fahr.  It  is  then 
transferred  to  the  fermenting  tun ; a sufficient  quantity  of 
yeast  is  added — obtained,  if  possible,  from  the  same  kind  of 
beer  it  is  desired  to  make — and  it  is  allowed  to  ferment 
slowly  for  six  or  eight  days.  During  this  fermentation,  the 
sugar  of  the  wort  is  split  up  into  the  alcohol  and  water, 
which  remain  in  the  beer,  and  into  the  carbonic  acid  gas 
which,  for  the  most  part,  escapes  from  the  surface  of  the 
liquid  and  mingles  with  the  surrounding  air. 

Three  things  are  notable  in  this  process  : first , That  the 
quantity  of  yeast  which  is  added,  and  the  temperature  at 
which  the  liquor  is  afterwards  kept  to  ferment,  vary  with 
every  kind  of  beer ; second , That  the  yeast  has  a tendency 
to  reproduce  a beer  which,  in  flavour,  &c.,  shall  resemble 
that  from  which  it  has  been  obtained ; and  thirds  That  the 
whole  of  the  sugar  contained  in  the  wort  is  never  in  practice 
transformed  into  alcohol.  Good  beer — however  clear, 
hard,  bright,  and  bitter — always  retains  a pleasant  sweetish 
taste.  From  one-half  to  three-fourths  only  of  the  sugar  in 
the  wort  is  decomposed.  Were  the  fermentation  not  so 
regulated  as  to  leave  this  residue  of  undecomposed  sugar, 
the  beer  would  refuse  to  keep.  It  would  turn  sour  in  the 
cask.* 

I do  not  follow  further  the  manufacture  of  this  impor- 
tant beverage.  But  I cannot  dismiss  the  beautiful  series 
of  operations  of  which  it  consists,  without  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  my  reader  for  a moment  to  the  remarkable  place 


* Uek’s  Dictionary , pp.  103, 109. 


THE  YEAST  PLANT. 


245 


which  the  minute  yeast  plant  (fig.  47)  occupies  among  the 
agents  by  which  the  final  result  is  attained.  I have  already 
described  this  plant ; how  small  it  is  ; 
how  mysteriously  it  appears,  and  how 
rapidly  it  grows  (p.  71). 

As  sulphuric  acid  and  diastase, 
by  mere  contact  apparently  with 
starch,  convert  it  wholly  into  sugar  ; 
so  yeast,  by  a similar  species  of  con- 
tact, converts  the  sugar  wholly  into 
alcohol,  water,  and  carbonic  acid. 

How  either  of  these  transformations 
is  effected  by  the  agents  employed, 
we  cannot  explain. 

There  is  this  interesting  difference 
in  the  way  in  which  these  three 
agents  operate — that,  while  the  sul- 
phuric acid  employed  to  transform 
starch  into  sugar  remains  unchanged 
in  quantity,  and  while  the  diastase  itself  changes  and  disap- 
pears, the  yeast  lives,  multiplies,  grows,  increases  in  quan- 
tity, and  augments  in  size  and  vegetable  development.  The 
minuteness  of  the  yeast  plant,  consisting  in  its  simplest  form 
of  only  a single  cell,  long  prevented  it  from  being  gene- 
rally regarded  as  a form  of  living  matter.  But  the  changes 
it  undergoes  in  the  fermenting  tub,  day  by  day,  as  shown 
by  the  microscope,  prove  it  to  be  unquestionably  a growing 
vegetable.  The  drawing  given  above  (fig.  47)  shows  the 
appearance  it  has  assumed  after  being  in  the  wort  only  eight 
hours.  The  cells  have  multiplied,  increased  in  size,  and 
begun  to  string  themselves  together  like  beads.  The  draw- 
ing in  fig.  48  exhibits  a still  more  developed  and  unques- 
tionable plant-form  sometimes  found  in  the  yeast  deposited 
by  fully  fermented  London  porter.  The  increase  in  the 


Fig.  47. 


Yeast  after  being  in  wort  for 
eight  hours,  showing — 

The  transparency  of  the  yeast 
cells. 

The  granules  or  nuclei  in  their 
interior. 

How  the  spores  or  seeds  escapo 
from  the  interior  of  the  cells. 

How  they  germinate  and  mul- 
tiply by  budding. 

How  they  unite  into  jointed 
filaments. 


246 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


Fig.  48. 


quantity  of  yeast  during  such  fermentation  is  so  great,  that 
35  lb.  of  dry  yeast  employed  in  brewing  1250  gallons  of 

beer,  have  been  known  ta 
increase  to,  or  yield,  247 
lb. 

But  that  the  yeast 
lives  and  increases  in  the 
fermenting  liquid,  does  not 
explain  its  action  upon  the 
sugar.  The  mystery  re- 
mains none  the  less.  How 
this  plant,  in  growing  ra- 
pidly itself,  should  induce 
the  sugar  at  the  same  time 
to  split  itself  up  as  I have 
described,  and  that  with- 
out combining  with  or 
otherwise  appropriating 
any  of  the  new  substances 
produced — this  is  still  al- 
together inexplicable.  Nei- 
ther chemistry  nor  physi- 
ology can  as  yet  hazard 
even  a plausible,  light- 
bringing conjecture  upon 
the  subject.  It  is  something,  however,  to  be  able  to 
see,  in  regard  to  any  point'  that  we  have  reached,  the  actual 
limits  of  our  positive  knowledge. 

The  composition  of  the  beer,  obtained  as  I have  describ- 
ed, varies  with  almost  every  sample. 

a.  When  beer  is  evaporated  or  boiled  to  dryness,  it 
leaves  behind  a certain  quantity  of  solid  matter,  usually 
spoken  of  as  malt  extract.  This  consists  of  undecomposed 
sugar,  of  soluble  gluten  from  the  grain,  of  bitter  substances 


The  numbers  indicate  the  successive 
stages  of  the  growth  or  development. 


CONSTITUENTS  OF  BEER. 


247 


derived  from  the  hop,  and  of  a certain  proportion  of  mineral 
matter.  It  varies  in  quantity  from  less  than  4 to  upwards 
of  8 lb.  in  every  100  lb.  of  good  beer.  In  fine  wine-like 
beers,  such  as  our  modern  English  bitter  beers,  the  quam 
tity  of  extract  is  small.  In  heavy  sweet  beers,  it  is  large. 
Good  Edinburgh  ale  contains  about  4 per  cent.,  or  nearly 
half  a pound  to  the  gallon.  The  German  Brunswick  beers 
are  remarkable  in  this  respect.  A sweet  small-beer  of  that 
city  contains  14  per  cent,  of  extract;  and  a scarcely  half- 
fermented  black  drink,  called  Brunswick  mumme)  as  much 
as  39  per  cent. — about  5 lb.  to  the  gallon.  The  nutritive 
qualities  of  beer,  which  are  often  considerable,  depend  very 
much  upon  the  amount  and  nature  of  this  extract. 

b.  But  beer  contains  alcohol  also,  the  result  of  the  fer- 
mentation ; and  this  varies  in  quantity  quite  as  much  as  the 
extract.  Thus — 


Small  beer  contains 
Porter, 

Brown  stout, 

Bitter  and  strong  ales,  . 


Of  Alcohol. 

1 to  1£  per  cent,  by  weight 
3*  to  5*  “ “ 

5±  to  6*  “ “ 

5*  to  10  “ “ 


By  measure,  these  proportions  of  alcohol  are  about  one- 
fourth  more  than  the  numbers  above  given. 

Upon  this  alcohol  depends  the  purely  intoxicating  effect 
of  malt  liquors.  And  in  this  respect  our  strong  ales  have 
about  the  same  strength  and  influence  as  hock  and  the  light 
French  wines.  But  they  contain,  in  addition,  and  as  dis- 
tinguishing them  from  the  wines, 

First,  The  nutritive  matters  of  the  extract  which  are 
derived  from  the  grain. — These,  as  I have  said,  vary  from 
4 to  8 per  cent.  In  milk,  the  model  food,  the  nutritive 
matter  amounts  to  12  per  cent.,  and  is,  besides,  somewhat 
richer  in  curd,  the  ingredient  which  corresponds  to  the  glu- 
ten of  plants.  Beer,  therefore,  is  food  as  well  as  drink.  A 


248 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


little  beef  eaten  with  it  makes  up  the  deficiency  in  gluten,  ai 
compared  with  milk ; so  that  beef,  beer,  and  bread — our 
characteristic  English  diet — are  most  philosophically  put  to 
gether,  at  once  to  strengthen,  to  sustain,  and  to  stimulate 
the  bodily  powers. 

Second , The  bitter  narcotic  principle  of  the  hop. — By 
this,  not  less  than  by  its  nutritive  quality,  beer  is  distin- 
guished from  wine.  Of  this  ingredient  and  its  effects  I shall 
treat  in  a subsequent  chapter.* 

2°.  Chica,  or  Maize  Beer. — The  use  of  malt  beer  in 
Germany,  and  probably  also  in  England,  is  very  ancient ; 
but  that  of  chica  or  maize  beer  in  South  America  appears  to 
be  equally  remote.  It  was  a common  drink  of  the  Indians 
long  before  the  Spanish  conquest. 

The  usual  way  of  preparing  chica  is  to  water  or  mois- 
ten Indian  corn,  as  the  English  maltster  does  his  barley — • 
to  leave  it  till  it  sprouts  sufficiently,  and  then  to  dry  it  in 
the  sun.  It  is  now  maize  malt.  This  malt  is  crushed, 
mashed  in  warm  water,  and  then  allowed  to  stand  till  fer- 
mentation takes  place.  The  liquor  is  of  a dark  yellow 
colour,  and  has  an  agreeable,  slightly  bitter,  acid  taste. f It 
is  in  universal  demand  throughout  the  west  coast  of  South 
America,  and  is  consumed  in  vast  quantities  by  the  mountain 
Indians.  Scarcely  a single  hut  in  the  interior  is  without  its 
jar  of  the  favourite  liquor. 

In  the  valleys  of  the  Sierra,  however,  the  most  highly- 
prized  chica  is  made  in  a somewhat  different  manner.  “ All 
the  members  of  the  family,  including  such  strangers  as 
choose  to  assist  in  the  operation,  seat  themselves  on  the  floor 
in  a circle,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a large  calabash,  sur- 
rounded by  a heap  of  dried  maize  (malt).  Each  person  takes 
Up  a handful  of  the  grain  and  thoroughly  chews  it.  This  is 


* See  The  Naecotics  we  indulge  in. 
t Von  Tohudi,  Travels  in  Peru,  p.  151. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  YEAST-PLANT. 


249 


deposited  in  the  calabash,  and  another  handful  is  imme- 
diately subjected  to  the  same  process,  the  jaws  of  the  com- 
pany being  kept  continually  busy  until  the  whole  heap  of 
corn  is  reduced  to  a mass  of  pulp.  This,  with  some  minor 
ingredients,  is  mashed  in  hot  water,  and  the  liquid  poured 
into  jars,  where  it  is  left  to  ferment.  In  a short  time  it  is 
ready  for  use.  Occasionally,  however,  the  jars  are  buried 
in  the  ground,  ajid  allowed  to  remain  there  until  the  liquor 
acquires,  from  age,  a considerable  strength,  and  powerfully 
intoxicating  qualities. 

Chica  thus  prepared  is  called  chica  mascada , or  chewed 
chica,  and  is  considered  far  superior  to  that  prepared  from 
maize  crushed  in  the  usual  manner.  The  Serrano  believes 
he  cannot  offer  his  guest  a greater  luxury  than  a draught  of 
old  chica  mascada,  the  ingredients  of  which  have  been  ground 
between  his  own  teeth.* 

Disgusting  as  this  process  of  manufacture  appears  to  the 
European,  it  is  nevertheless  founded  in  reason,  and  presents 
a sort  of  instinctive  or  experience-born  application  of  a beau- 
tiful chemico-physiological  principle. 

We  have  seen  that  grain  is  malted  in  order  that  diastase 
may  be  produced,  and  that  it  is  then  bruised  and  digested 
in  warm  water,  in  order  that  this  diastase  may  convert  the 
starch  into  sugar.  But  the  saliva  of  the  mouth  possesses  a 
similar  property  of  converting  starch  into  sugar.  Mix  starch 
intimately  with  saliva,  and  keep  the  mixture  moderately 
warm  for  a time,  and  sugar  will  gradually  be  produced. 

This  is  what  the  Indian  does  in  preparing  his  chica 
mascada.  He  chews  the  grain  thoroughly:  this  reduces  it 
to  a fine  pulp,  and  at  the  same  time  mixes  it  intimately 
with  saliva.  When  set  aside,  this  pulp  sweetens  and  after 
wards  ferments. 


* The  Leisure  Hour , June,  1853,  p.  872. 


250 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


The  maize  he  makes  his  liquor  from  is  a large  grain* 
The  diastase  produced  during  the  malting — which  is  not 
always  well  conducted — is  often  insufficient  to  convert  the 
whole  of  the  starch  into  sugar,  hut  the  mixture  of  saliva  aids 
the  diastase,  and  insures  the  change.  It  also  aids  in  pro 
ducing  and  promoting  the  fermentation  which  suceeds. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  discover  so  beautiful  a chemico- 
physiological  reason  for  a practice  so  disagreeable  and  ap- 
parently so  unaccountable. 

Chica  is  not  always  made  from  maize.  It  is  prepared 
also  from  barley,  rice,  pease,  yuccas,  pine-apples,  grapes, 
and  even  bread — (Von  Tchudi).  The  name,  originally  re- 
stricted to  the  liquor  obtained  from  maize,  appears  to  have 
been  gradually  applied  to  the  fermented  drinks  of  various 
kinds  which  are  in  use  in  different  parts  of  South  America. 
A variety  of  chica  mascada  is  made  in  some  places  from  the 
pods  of  the  Prosopis  algaroba , which  are  very  sweet,  mixed 
with  the  bitter  stalks  of  the  Schinus  molle.  Old  women 
are  employed  to  chew  these  pods  and  stalks.  The  chewed 
pulp  is  mixed  with  water,  and  the  mixture  soon  ferments 
and  forms  an  intoxicating  beer.*  The  addition  of  the  bitter 
ingredient  in  this  case  is  interesting,  not  only  because  it  re- 
sembles our  own  more  recent  practice  of  adding  hops  and 
other  bitters  to  our  beer,  but  because  it  intimates  the  exist- 
ence of  a remarkable  similarity  in  natural  taste  among  tribes 
of  men  most  remote  in  situation,  and  most  unlike  in  under- 
standing and  habits. 

3°.  Bouza,  Murwa,  or  Millet  Beer,  is  a favourite 
drink  of  the  Crim  Tartars.  They  prepare  it  from  ferment- 
ed millet-seed,  to  which  they  add  certain  admixtures  which 
render  it  excessively  astringent — (Oliphant  f).  Thej  call 
it  Bouza. 

* Chemical  Gazette,  1844,  p.  131,  note, 
t Russian  Shores  of  the  Black  Sea , p.  2TT. 


BOUZA,  OR  MILLET  BEER. 


251 


The  Arabians,  Abyssinians,  and  many  African  tribes, 
give  the  same  name  to  a fermented  drink  which  they  usually 
prepare  from  teff \ the  seeds  of  the  Poa  Abyssinica . They 
occasionally  employ  millet-seed,  however,  and  even  barley, 
for  the  purpose.  Their  bouza  is  described  as  a sour,  thick 
drink. 

In  Sikkim,  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the  lower  Hima- 
laya, millet  beer,  under  the  name  of  murwa , is  in  very 
general  use.  It  is  prepared  by  moistening  the  millet-seed 
( Eleusine  coracana),  and  allowing  it  to  ferment  for  some 
days.  On  a portion  of  this,  considered  sufficient  for  the 
occasion,  or  for  the  day’s  consumption,  hot  water  is  then 
poured.  It  is  usually  drunk  while  still  warm — is  served  in 
bamboo  jugs,  and  sucked  through  a reed.  When  quite 
fresh,  it  tastes  “ like  negus  of  Cape  sherry,  rather  sour.”  It 
is  very  weak,  but  in  a hot  day’s  march  is  described  as  a very 
grateful  beverage — (Hooker).* 

With  the  chemical  peculiarities  of  these  different  forms 
of  millet  beer  we  are  at  present  unacquainted.  The  speci- 
ality in  their  preparation  seems  to  be,  that  they  are  ferment- 
ed in  the  grain,  and  not  in  the  wort,  as  is  the  case  with 
European  beers  ; and  that  the  fermentation  is  spontaneous, 
and  not  produced  by  yeast.  Under  these  circumstances, 
three  chemical  changes  will  be  proceeding  in  the  moist  grain 
at  the  same  time  : — 

First , The  starch  of  the  grain  will  be  transformed 
into  sugar  by  the  agency  of  the  diastase,  which  is  formed 
during  the  sprouting  that  ensues  after  the  grain  is  mois- 
tened. 

Second , This  sugar  is  partly  changed  into  alcohol  by  th8 
fermentation  which  spontaneously  commences. 

Third , A part  of  the  sugar  is  changed  also  into  lactic 


* Himalayan,  Journals , vol.  i.,  pp.  285, 291. 


252 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT, 


acid,  or  the  acid  of  milk,  through  the  action  of  the  gluten 
of  the  millet,  which,  during  the  spontaneous  fermentation, 
possesses  the  peculiar  property  of  producing  this  change. 

The  drink  obtained  by  infusing  this  altered  grain  in 
water  agrees  with  our  European  malt-liquors,  therefore,  iR 
containing  nutritive  matters  derived  from  the  starch  and 
gluten  of  the  grain.  But  it  differs  from  them  in  containing 
lactic  instead  of  acetic  acid.  The  Indian  murwa  differs  from 
them  also  in  being  drunk  like  tea  soon  after  it  is  infused, 
and  in  containing  no  bitter  addition  resembling  our  hop. 
The  astringency  of  the  bouza  of  the  Crim  Tartars  seems  to 
indicate  that  they  use  something  in  preparing  it  besides  the 
fermented  millet-seed. 

It  is  a singular  coincidence  that  the  mode  of  infusing  in 
hot  water  and  sucking  through  a tube,  practised  on  the 
Himalayas,  is  exactly  the  same  as  is  practised  in  South 
America  in  preparing  mate  or  Paraguay  tea.  In  each  of 
these  remote  districts  the  beverage  prepared  is  taken  hot, 
and  is  in  universal  use ; and  yet,  so  far  as  I am  aware,  this 
mode  of  drinking  is  adopted  only  in  North-Eastern  Asia 
and  in  Southern  America.  Is  there  anything  more  than  a 
mere  coincidence  in  this  ? 

4°.  Quass,  or  Bye  Beer,  a favourite  Kussian  drink, 
is  a sharp,  acid,  often  muddy  liquor,  which,  in  taste  and  ap- 
pearance, resembles  some  of  the  varieties  of  bouza.  It  is 
made  by  mixing  rye-flour,  and  occasionally  barley-flour,  with 
water,  and  fermenting.  It  may  possibly  contain  lactic  acid, 
but  I am  not  aware  that  its  composition  has  yet  been  made 
the  subject  of  special  chemical  inquiry. 

This  is  one  of  the  cases  in  which  un-malted  grain  is 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  beer  on  the  continent  of 
Europe. 

5°.  Koumiss,  or  Milk  Beer. — Milk,  as  I have  explain- 
ed in  the  preceding  chapter,  contains  a peculiar  kind  of 


KOUMISS,  OR  MILK  BEER. 


r^5a 

sugar,  less  sweet  than  cane  sugar,  to  which  the  name  of  milk 
sugar  is  given.  This  sugar,  when  dissolved  in  water,  does 
not  ferment  upon  the  addition  of  yeast ; hut  when  dissolved 
in  the  milk,  along  with  the  curd  and  butter  it  readily  fer- 
ments, is  transformed  into  alcohol  and  carbonic  acid,  and 
gives  to  the  liquor  an  intoxicating  quality.*  This  fermen- 
tation will  take  place  spontaneously,  but  it  is  hastened  by 
the  addition  of  yeast  or  of  a little  already  fermented  milk. 
The  fermented  liquid  is  the  koumiss  of  the  Tartars.  Mare’s 
milk  is  richer  in  sugar  than  that  of  the  cow,  and  is  usually 
employed  for  the  manufacture  of  milk  beer.  It  is  prepared 
in  the  following  manner  : — 

To  the  new  milk,  diluted  with  “ a sixth  of  its  bulk  of 
water,  a quantity  of  rennet,  or,  what  is  better,  a sour  kou- 
miss, is  added,  and  the  whole  is  covered  up  in  a warm  place 
for  twenty-four  hours.  It  is  then  stirred  or  churned  to- 
gether till  the  curd  and  whey  are  intimately  mixed,  and  is 
again  left  at  rest  for  twenty-four  hours.  At  the  end  of  this 
time  it  is  put  into  a tall  vessel  and  agitated  till  it  becomes 
perfectly  homogeneous.  It  has  now  an  agreeable  sourish 

* This  transformation  is  effected,  through  the  agency  of  the  curd , in  a way  not 
yet  clearly  understood.  The  mere  change  of  substance — that  is,  of  the  sugar  into 
alcohol  and  carbonic  acid,  supposing  it  to  be  produced  directly — appears  very  simple. 
Thus,  C representing  carbon,  H hydrogen,  and  O oxygen : — C H O 

One  of  milk  sugar  is  . . . . . = 24  24  24 


Four  of  alcohol  are  . . . . . = 16  24  8 

Eight  of  carbonic  acid,  . . . . . = 8 0 16 


Sum,  . . . . . 24  24  24 

So  that,  in  one  of  milk  sugar  there  are  exactly  the  materials  to  form  four  of  alcohd 
and  eight  of  carbonic  acid.  But  the  transfo  mation  is  probably  much  more  indirect 
and  circuitous — the  curd  changing  one  portion  of  the  sugar  into  lactic  acid,  this  acid 
changing  the  rest  of  the  milk  sugar  into  grape  sugar,  and  then  the  altered  curd  again 
in  somo  unknown  way,  causing  this  grape  sugar  to  ferment  and  split  up  into  alcohol 
and  carbonic  acid.  The  non-chemical  reader  will  understand  in  some  degree,  from 
this  example,  how  difficult  it  is  to  follow,  and  distinctly  make  out,  the  rapid  and  sue* 
cessive  changes  which  often  take  place  ir  consequence  of  the  mutual  re-actions  cf 
dJffeient  chemical  substances. 


2 54 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


taste,  and,  in  a cool  place,  may  be  preserved  for  severa< 
months  in  close  vessels.  It  is  always  shaken  up  before  it  is 
drunk.  This  liquor,  from  the  cheese  and  butter  it  contains, 
is  a nourishing  as  well  as  an  exhilarating  drink,  and  is  not 
followed  by  the  usual  bad  effects  of  intoxicating  liquors.  It 
is  even  recommended-as  a wholesome  article  of  diet  in  cases 
of  dyspepsia  or  of  general  debility.” 

By  distillation,  ardent  spirits  are  obtained  from  this 
koumiss,  and,  whsn  carefully  made,  a pint  of  the  liquor 
will  yield  half  an  ounce  of  spirit.  To  this  milk-brandy? 
when  only  once  distilled,  the  Kalmucks  give  the  name  of 
arraca , and  from  the  residue  in  the  still  they  make  a kind 
of  hasty-pudding. 

The  Arabians  and  Turks  prepare  a fermented  liquor,  or 
milk  beer,  similar  to  the  koumiss,  which  the  former  call 
leban  and  the  latter  yaourt.  In  the  Orkney  Islands,  and  in 
some  parts  of  Ireland  and  of  the  north  of  Scotland,  butter- 
milk is  sometimes  kept  till  it  undergoes  the  vinous  fermen- 
tation and  acquires  intoxicating  qualities. 

This  milk  beer  has  never,  I believe,  been  chemically  in- 
vestigated ; but  we  know,  first.  That  it  agrees  with  the  malt 
beers  in  containing  a considerable  proportion  of  nutritive 
matter.  The  butter  and  cheese  of  the  milk  remain  as  nutri- 
tious ingredients  of  the  beer.  Second , That  it  differs  from 
the  malt  beers  in  containing  more  acid,  and  in  owing  its 
sourness  not  to  acetic  acid  but  to  the  peculiar  acid  of  milk, 
the  lactic  acid.  In  both  these  respects  it  agrees  remark- 
ably with  millet  beer.  We  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter 
that,  in  the  kind  of  acid  it  contains  milk  beer  agrees  also 
with  cider. 

6°.  Ava,  Cava,  or  Arva. — Similar  to  chica  in  the  mode 
of  preparation  is  the  ava  or  cava  of  the  South  Sea  Islands. 
This  liquor  is  in  use  over  a very  wide  area  of  the  Pacific 


THE  AVA  PEPPER. 


255 


Ocean,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  very  remote  islands. 
In  Tahiti,  the  use  of  it  is  said  to  have  swept  off  many  of  the 
inhabitants.  In  the  Sandwich  Islands  it  was  some  years  ago 
forbidden — (Simpson).  In  the  Samoan  group  it  is  the 
only  intoxicating  liquor  known,  and  old  and  young,  male 
and  female,  are  very  fond  of  it — (Wilkes).  In  the  Tonga 
Islands  it  is  prepared  and  drunk  on  every  festive  occasion 
—(Mariner).  And  in  the  Feejee  Islands,  the  preparation 
of  the  morning  drink  of  this  liquor  for  the  king  is  one  of  the 
most  solemn  and  important  duties  of  his  courtly  attendants 
— (Wilkes). 

The  name  of  ava  is  given  to  the  root  of  the  intoxicating 
long-pepper  ( Macropiper  methysticum ),  fig.  49,  which  is 

Fig.  49. 


Macropiper  methysticum. — Tho  Ava  Pepper  shrub 


Scale,  1 inch  to  3 feet. 

Leaf,  1 inch  to  2 inches.  Outline  of  leaf,  natural  size. 
Part  of  stem  and  root,  showing  section,  natural  size. 


256 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


chewed,  either  in  the  fresh  or  in  the  dried  state,  as  th« 
Indian  chews  his  maize.*  The  pulp  is  then  mixed  with 
cold  water,  which  after  a brief  interval  is  strained  from  the 
chewed  fibre,  and  is  ready  for  use.  The  taste,  to  one  un- 
accustomed to  it,  is  not  pleasant.  It  reminded  Captain 
Wilkes  of  the  taste  of  rhubarb  and  magnesia!  According 
to  the  white  persons  who  have  tried  it,  this  infusion  does 
not  intoxicate  in  the  same  manner  as  ardent  spirits.  It 
more  resembles  opium  in  some  of  its  effects,  producing  a 
kind  of  temporary  paralysis,  tremors,  indistinctness,  and  dis- 
tortion of  vision,  and  a confused  feeling  about  the  head. 

The  presence  of  a narcotic  ingredient  in  the  root  of  this 
plant  is  very  probable.  Its  leaf  is  used  very  largely  for 
chewing  with  the  well-known  betel-nut, f and  is  believed  to 
have  a share  in  producing  the  pleasing  state  of  mild  excite- 
ment in  which  the  betel-chewer  delights.  The  extraction  of 
this  narcotic  substance,  during  the  process  of  mastication 
and  straining,  accounts  for  the  intoxicating  qualities  acquired 
by  the  liquor,  before  ordinary  fermentation  and  the  produc- 
tion of  common  alcohol  has  had  time  to  begin.  Still, 
that  the  saliva  produces  a chemical  change  in  the  ingre- 
dients of  the  root,  upon  which  change  their  intoxicating 
quality  in  some  measure  depends,  is  in  itself  very  probable, 
from  what  we  know  of  the  general  properties  of  saliva. 
And  the  probability  of  such  a change  becomes  greater, 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  intoxicating  qualities  of  the 
leaf  only  become  sensible  to  the  betel-chewer  as  the  roll 
he  chews  becomes  softened  in  his  mouth,  and  saturated  with 
saliva. 

In  the  Tonga  Islands,  the  ava  root,  when  dry,  is  split 
up  into  small  pieces  with  an  axe  or  other  sharp  instrument, 

* Fig.  49  represents  the  leaf  and  a section  of  the  root  of  the  ava  pepper.  I havt 
been  unable  to  procure  a figure  of  the  entire  fresh  root  and  plant. 

t See  Tub  Narcotics  we  indulge  in. 


AVA -DRINKING  IN  THE  FEEJEES. 


257 


is  scraped  clean,  and  is  then  handed  to  the  attendants  to 
be  chewed.  No  one  offers  to  chew  it  but  young  persons 
who  have  good  teeth,  clean  mouths,  and  have  no  colds.  The 
women  often  assist — (Mariner).  But  as  the  most  curious 
passage  I have  met  with  in  connection  with  the  preparation 
and  use  of  this  liquor,  I quote  the  following  from  Captain 
Wilkes 

“ The  ceremony  attending  the  ava-drinking  of  the  king 
at  Somu-somu,  one  of  the  Feejee  islands,  is  peculiar.  Early 
in  the  morning,  the  first  thing  heard  is  the  king’s  herald,  or 
orator,  crying  out  in  front  of  his  house,  ( Yango-na  ei  ava,’ 
somewhat  like  the  muezzin  in  Turkey,  though  not  from  the 
house-top.  To  this  the  people  answer,  from  all  parts  of  the 
koro,  ‘ Mama  ’ (prepare  ava).  The  principal  men  and 
chiefs  immediately  assemble  together  from  all  quarters, 
bringing  their  ava  bowl  and  ava  root  to  the  mbure,  where 
they  seat  themselves  to  talanoa,  or  converse  on  the  affairs 
of  the  day,  while  the  younger  proceed  to  prepare  the  ava. 
Those  who  prepare  the  ava  are  required  to  have  clean  and 
undecayed  teeth,  and  are  not  allowed  to  swallow  any  of  the 
juice,  on  pain  of  punishment.  As  soon  as  the  ava  root  is 
chewed,  it  is  thrown  into  the  ava  bowl,  where  water  is 
poured  upon  it  with  great  formality.  The  king’s  herald, 
with  a peculiar  drawling  whine,  then  cries,  1 Sevu-rui-a-na 5 
(make  the  offering).  After  this  a considerable  time  is 
spent  in  straining  the  ava  through  cocoa-nut  husks ; and 
when  this  is  done,  the  herald  repeats  with  still  more  cere- 
mony, his  command,  1 Sevu-rui-a-na.’  When  he  has  chanted 
it  several  times,  the  other  chiefs  join  him,  and  they  all 
sing,  ‘ Mana  endina  sendina  le.’  A person  is  then  com- 
manded to  get  up  and  take  the  king  his  ava,  after  which 
the  singing  again  goes  on.  The  orator  then  invokes  their 
principal  god,  TavaSava,  and  they  repeat  the  names  of  their 


258 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


departed  friends,  asking  them  to  watch  over  and  he  gracious 
to  them.  They  then  pray  for  rain,  for  the  life  of  the  king, 
the  arrival  of  wangara  papalangi  (foreign  ships),  that  they 
may  have  riches,  and  live  to  enjoy  them.  This  prayer 
is  followed  by  a most  earnest  response,  1 Mana  endina  ’ 
(amen,  amen).  They  then  repeat  several  times  ‘ Mana 
endina  sendina  le.’  Every  time  this  is  repeated,  they  raise 
their  voices  until  they  reach  the  highest  pitch,  and  conclude 
with  1 O-ya-ye,’  which  they  utter  in  a tone  resembling  a 
horrid  scream.  This  screech  goes  the  rounds,  being  re- 
peated by  all  the  people  of  the  koro,  until  it  reaches  its 
farthest  limits,  and,  when  it  ceases,  the  king  drinks  his 
ava.  All  the  chiefs  clap  their  hands  with  great  regularity 
while  he  is  drinking;  and  after  he  has  finished  his  ava, 
the  chiefs  drink  theirs  without  any  more  ceremony.  The 
business  of  the  day  is  then  begun.  The  people  never  do 
anything  in  the  morning  before  the  king  has  drunk  his 
ava.  Even  a foreigner  will  not  venture  to  work  or  make 
a noise  before  that  ceremony  is  over,  or  during  the  pre- 
paration of  it,  if  he  wishes  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  king 
and  people.”  * 

It  will  strike  the  reader  as  a singular  circumstance, 
that  this  mode  of  preparing  fermenting  drinks — the  ava 
and  the  chica — by  chewing  the  raw  materials,  should  exist 
in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  and  amid  the  sierras  of 
South  America,  and  there  only.  The  materials  employed 
in  the  two  regions  are  very  different,  and  the  chemical 
changes  produced  by  the  chewing  in  the  two  cases  very 
different  also,  though  the  apparent  result,  in  the  pro- 
duction of  an  intoxicating  liquor,  is  the  same.  Where  did 
the  custom  originate  ? Is  its  origin  continental  or  insular  ? 
Is  it  in  any  way  connected  with  the  eastward  migrations 


* Wilkes’  United  States'  Exploring  Expediti  my  vol.  ii.,  p.  97, 


COINCIDENCE  IN  CUSTOMS. 


259 


which  the  unknown  past  has  doubtless  witnessed,  towards 
the  Pacific  shores  of  the  American  continent  ? Where  ana- 
logies of  tongue  and  features  fail,  may  not  the  occurrence 
of  strange  customs  point  to  old  national  relations  which  now 
no  longer  subsist  ? 


12 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 

THE  WINES. 


The  wines.— Apple  and  pear  wines.— Cider  and  perry.— Different**,  m quamy.— 
Varieties  of  cider  apple. — Composition  of  cider;  tendency  to  soui.  -Grape  wines. 
—Rapid  fermentation  of  grape  juice.— Circumstances  influence  tie  quality  of 
wine. — Composition  of  wine. — Proportion  of  alcohol  in  different  wines ; propor- 
tion of  sugar. — Tartaric  acid  the  peculiar  acid  of  grape  wine. — Proportions  of  acid 
in  different  wines. — (Enanthic  ether  gives  the  vinous  flavour  to  wines. — Peculiar 
odoriferous  principles  which  impart  to  each  wine  its  own  flavour  or  bouquet. — 
Consumption  of  wine  in  the  United  Kingdom. — Palm  wine  or  toddy. — How  ex- 
tracted from  the  cocoa-nut  tree,  and  from  the  date  tree. — Extensive  use  of  palm 
wine. — Sugar-cane  wine,  or  guarapo. — Pulque,  or  agave  wine. 


II.  The  Wines. — Wines  are  distinguished  from  beers 
chiefly  by  three  characters  : First , They  contain  little  of 
that  solid  nutritious  matter  which  enables  our  home-brewed 
beer  to  feed  the  body  as  well  as  quench  the  thirst  and  ex- 
hilarate the  spirits.  Second,  They  are  free  from  any  bitter 
or  narcotic  ingredient,  such  as  the  hops  we  add  so  largely  to 
many  of  our  English  ales.  Third,  They  are  all  fermented, 
without  the  addition  of  yeast,  by  a spontaneous  fermenta- 
tion ; and  in  consequence  they  contain  other  acids  besides 
the  acetic  acid,  or  vinegar,  to  which  sour  beer  owes  its 
acidity. 

1°.  Apple  and  Pear  Wines. — Cider  and  perry  are 


APPLE  AND  PEAR  WINES. 


261 


well-known  fermented  drinks.  The  former  especial,  y is 
largely  prepared  and  consumed  in  England,  France,  and 
North  America. 

The  expressed  juices  of  the  apple  and  the  pear  contain 
grape  sugar  already  formed.  When  left  to  themselves  they 
soon  begin  to  ferment,  without  the  addition  of  yeast ; and 
during  this  fermentation,  the  sugar  is  converted  into  alcohol 
in  the  way  already  described. 

Cider  differs  in  flavour,  in  acidity,  in  strength,  and  con- 
sequently in  quality,  with  many  circumstances.  The  kinds 
of  apples  which  are  grown  and  used  for  the  purpose,  the  de- 
gree of  ripeness  they  are  allowed  to  attain  before  they  are 
gathered,  the  time  given  them  to  mellow  or  ferment  before 
they  are  crushed,  the  skill  with  which  the  several  varieties 
are  mixed  before  they  are  put  into  the  mill,  the  nature  of 
the  climate,  the  character  of  the  season,  the  quality  of  the 
soil,  the  mode  in  which  the  trees  are  managed — all  these 
circumstances  materially  affect  the  quality  of  the  expressed 
juice  as  it  flows  from  the  crushing-mill ; and  then  the  after- 
treatment  of  the  juice  may  introduce  a hundred  new  shades 
of  difference  among  the  several  ripe  ciders  produced  from  the 
same  juice. 

In  Normandy,  not  less  than  five  thousand  differently- 
named  varieties  of  the  acid  or  bitter  apple  are  known,  and 
grown  for  the  manufacture  of  cider ! Some  of  these  varie- 
ties are  distinguished  by  as  many  as  eighteen  different 
names  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  In  that  province 
also  it  is  remarked,  that  the  cider  produced  upon  chalk 
soils,  from  the  same  varieties  of  apple,  differs  in  flavour  from 
that  of  sandy  districts,  and  both  from  that  of  clay  soils  ; so 
that  the  flavour  of  the  soil  {gout  de  terrain ) is  in  Normandy 
a familiar  expression  in  reference  to  the  qualities  of  this  fer- 
mented drink.* 

* See  the  author’s  Notes  on  North  America , vol.  i.  p.  lTd 


262  THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 

Amid  these  differences  in  quality,  however,  there  are 
certain  general  chemical  characters  in  which  all  ciders  agree. 
They  contain  little  extractive  or  solid  nutritious  matter. 
No  bitter  or  narcotic  ingredient  has  been  added  to  them. 
They  contain,  on  an  average,  about  nine  per  cent,  of  alcohol 
— thus  resembling  in  strength  the  common  hock,  the  weaker 
champagnes,  and  our  stronger  English  ales.  They  are  also 
chemically  distinguished  from  malt  liquors  by  containing 
lactic  instead  of  acetic  acid.  In  this  latter  respect  they 
agree  with  the  spontaneously-fermented  bouza,  or  murwa  beer 
of  Abyssinia  and  the  Himalayas,  and  with  the  milk  beer  of 
the  Tartarian  steppes. 

Cider  is  further  distinguished  by  the  great  facility 
with  which  it  becomes  sour,  or  runs  to  acid.  Hence  the 
frequency  of  hard  cider,  the  difficulty  of  transporting  it 
unchanged  from  place  to  place,  and  the  frequent  disappoint- 
ments which  attend  the  efforts  to  keep  it  sound  for  any  length 
of  time. 

2°.  Grape  Wine. — The  name  of  wine  is  usually  given 
among  us,  by  way  of  eminence,  to  the  fermented  juice  of  the 
grape.  This  juice,  like  that  of  the  apple,  contains  grape 
sugar  ready  formed ; and,  like  the  juices  of  the  apple,  the 
pear,  the  gooseberry,  and  most  other  fruits,  it  enters  easily 
and  speedily  into  spontaneous  fermentation.  Within  half 
an  hour,  in  ordinary  summer  weather,  the  clearest  juice 
of  the  grape  begins  to  appear  cloudy,  to  thicken,  and  to 
give  off  bubbles  of  gas.  Fermentation  has  already  com- 
menced ; and  within  three  hours  a distinct  yellow  layer 
of  yeast  has  collected  on  the  surface,  and  a sensible  quan- 
tity of  alcohol  has  been  formed  in  the  body  of  the  liquid. 
It  is  still  a mystery  in  what  way  the  germ,  seed,  or  sporule 
of  the  yeast  plant  obtains  admission  into  the  liquid  juice, 
and  in  such  quantity  as  to  give  rise  to  an  almost  instanta* 
neous  fermentation. 


SPIRIT  AND  SUGAR  IN  WINES. 


263 


Grape  wine  differs  in  composition  and  quality  with  a 
thousand  circumstances.  The  climate  of  the  country,  the 
nature  of  the  season,  the  soil  of  the  locality,  the  variety  of 
grape,  the  mode  of  culture,  the  time  of  gathering,  the  way 
in  which  the  fruit  when  gathered  is  treated  and  expressed, 
the  mode  of  fermenting  the  juice  or  must , the  attention 
bestowed  upon  the  young  wine,  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
treated  and  preserved,  the  temperature  at  which  it  is  kept, 
the  length  of  time  it  is  preserved, — upon  these,  and  numerous 
other  conditions,  the  composition  and  quality  of  wine  are  de- 
pendent. All  grape  wines,  however,  contain — 

a.  A notable  proportion  of  alcohol,  or  pure  spirit  of 
wine.  This  proportion  is  different  in  different  kinds  of  wine, 


and  varies 

considerably  also 

in  wines  of  the 

same  kind- 

Thus  the  proportion  of  absolute  alcohol,  by  measure,  in  our 

best-known  wines  is  as  follows 

In  100 

measures. 

: 

In  100 
measures. 

Port,  . 

21  to  23 

Rhenish,  . 

8 to  13 

Sherry, 

. . . 15  „ 25 

Moselle, 

8„  9 

Madeira, 

18  „ 22 

Malmsey, 

16 

Marsala, 

. . . 14  „ 21 

Tokay, 

9 

Claret, 

Burgundy, 

. . . 9„15 

. . T „ 13 

Champagne,  . 

5„  15 

The  wines  we  commonly  drink  in  this  country  are,  there- 
fore, two  or  three  times  stronger  in  spirit  than  those  of 
France  or  Germany. 

b.  A more  or  less  sensible  quantity  of  grape  sugar, 
which  has  escaped  the  decomposing  action  of  the  fer- 
mentation. This  gives  to  wines  their  sweet  taste  and 
fruity  character.  Wines  are  called  dry  when  they  con- 
tain little  sugar.  The  order  of  sweetness  in  certain  wines, 
as  they  are  brought  to  the  English  market,  is  as  follows, 
(Jones)  : — 


264 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


Claret,  Burgundy,  Rhine,  and  Mosello  wines  con- 
tain no  sensible  quantity  of  sugar. 

Sherry  contains  4 to  20  grains  in  the  ounce. 


Madeira 

» 

6 „ 20  „ 

Champagno 

»» 

6 „ 28  „ 

Port 

j» 

16  „ 84  „ 

Malmsey 

»» 

56  „ 66  „ 

„ 

Tokay 

»> 

74  „ 

„ 

Samos 

»» 

88 

Paxarette 

»» 

94  „ 

»» 

The  four  last-named  are  called  sweet  wines,  and  the  ex* 
treme  fruitiness  of  some  port  wines  is  indicated  by  the  large 
proportion  of  sugar  which  this  variety  of  wine  sometimes 
contains.  Sugar  is  added  to  the  juice  of  the  champagne 
grape  by  the  grower.  This  is  necessary,  not  only  to  give  it 
body,  but  to  keep  it  sparkling,  and  to  prevent  its  becoming 
sour.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  the  selection  of  the  kind 
of  sugar  which  is  added  has  great  influence  upon  the  flavour 
of  the  wine.  If  doubly-refined  cane  and  beet  sugars  be 
added  respectively  to  the  same  champagne,  the  one  will  give 
the  liquor  the  aroma  and  pleasant  flavour  of  the  cane-juice, 
the  other  the  disagreeable  gout  of  the  beet-root.  In  the 
wine,  the  senses  of  taste  and  smell  readily  discover  traces  of 
impurity  derived  from  the  sugar,  which  neither  eye,  nose,  nor 
mouth  can  detect  in  the  purified  sugar  itself. 

c.  A variable  proportion  of  free  acid,  which  imparts  to 
them  a more  or  less  distinctly  sour  taste.  We  have  seen 
that  neither  malt,  beer,  nor  cider  are  ever  quite  free  from 
acid,  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  wine.  Only  the  grape 
wine  is  made  sour  by  tartaric  acid.*  Thus — 

Acetic  acid  (vinegar)  is  the  acid  of  malt  deer. 

Lactic  acid  is  the  acid  of  millet  deer , milk  deer , and  cider. 

Tartaric  acid  is  the  acid  of  grape  wine. 


* Tartaric  acid  is  the  acid  which  gives  its  sourness  to  cream-of-tartar,  and  whicl 
we  use  along  with  soda  in  making  artificial  seidlitz  powders.  It  is  so  named,  be 
cause  it  is  extracted  from  the  tartar  or  crust  which  deposits  itself  on  the  sides  of  wine 
^asks  or  bottles,  by  long  standing. 


ACIDITY  OF  LIQUORS. 


265 


In  all  the  three  liquors,  acetic  acid  is  present  in  greater 
or  less  quantity,  as  this  is  always  produced  when  the  fer- 
mentation of  alcoholic  liquors  is  allowed  to  proceed  too  far. 
But  lactic  acid  is  found  neither  in  malt  beer,  nor  in  grape 
wine,  in  sensible  quantity  ; nor  is  tartaric  acid  found  in  beer 
or  cider.  These  acids,  therefore,  characterise  the  liquors  in 
which  they  especially  exist,  and  establish  a marked  chemical 
distinction  among  the  three  classes  of  fermented  drinks  to 
which  they  severally  belong. 

Wines  made  from  unripe  grapes  sometimes  contain 
another  peculiar  acid  which  resembles  the  acid  of  lemons 
(citric  acid),  but  this  acid  disappears  from  the  fruit  as  it 
ripens.  • 

Tartaric  acid  exists  in  the  juice  of  the  grape  in  com- 
bination with  potash,  forming  what  is  called  bi-tartrate  of 
potash,  or  cream*  of- tar  tar — a substance  which  has  a well- 
known  sour  taste.  When  the  fermented  juice  is  left  at  rest, 
this  bi-tartrate  gradually  separates  from  the  liquor,  and  de- 
posits itself  as  a crust  or  tartar  on  the  sides  of  the  casks  and 
bottles.  Hence  by  long  keeping  good  wines  become  less  acid, 
and  every  year  added  to  their  age  increases,  in  proportion, 
their  marketable  value. 

In  regard  to  acidity,  our  common  wines  arrange  them- 
selves in  the  following  order  : — 

Sherry  is  the  least  acid. 

Port  comes  next 

Champagne  „ 

Claret  „ 

Madeira  „ 

Burgundy  „ 

Rhine  wines  „ 

Moselle  is  most  acid. 

d.  A minute  proportion  of  an  ethereal  substance  to 
which  the  name  of  wnanthic  ether  is  given,  and  to  which 
grape  wines  owe  the  agreeable  vinous  odour  which  charac- 


266 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


terises  them  all.  When  obtained  in  a separate  state  this 
ether  is  a very  fluid  liquid,  of  a sharp,  disagreeable  taste, 
but  haying  an  odour  of  wine  so  excessively  powerful  as  to  be 
almost  intoxicating.  It  does  not  exist  in  the  juice  of  the 
grape,  but  is  produced  during  the  fermentation.  It  seems 
also  to  increase  in  quantity  by  keeping,  as  the  odour  of  old 
wines  is  stronger  than  that  of  new  wines.  So  powerful  is 
the  odour  of  this  substance,  however,  that  few  wines  con- 
tain more  than  one-four-thousandth  part  of  their  bulk  of 
it ! Yet  it  is  always  present,  can  always  be  recognised  by 
its  smell,  and  is  one  of  the  general  characteristics  of  all 
grape  wines. 

e.  Besides  the  general  vinous  flavour  derived  from  this 
oenanthic  ether,  all  wines  contain  one  or  more  odoriferous, 
more  or  less  fragrant,  substances,  to  which  the  peculiar 
bouquet  or  scent  of  each  is  due.  As  these  give  the  special 
character  to  the  wine,  they  are  more  or  less  different  in  each 
variety.  They  are  present  even  in  more  minute  quantity 
than  the  oenanthic  ether,  and  their  chemical  nature  is  as  yet 
very  little  understood. 

Grape  wine  is  the  principal  fermented  drink  of  the 
southern  European  nations.  The  consumption  in  the  United 
Kingdom  in  1853  amounted  to  upwards  of  seven  millions  of 
gallons  (7,197,572).  This  is  chiefly  consumed  by  the  upper 
classes.  In  England,  beer  is  the  poor  man’s  substitute, 
while  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  whisky,  more  or  less  diluted 
with  water,  takes  its  place. 

3°.  Palm  Wine,  or  Toddy. — The  sap  of  many  palm* 
trees  is  rich  in  sugar.  In  some  countries  this  sugar  is 
extracted  by  boiling  down  the  collected  juice,  as  cane 
sugar  is  extracted  from  the  expressed  juice  of  the  sugar 
cane  (see  p.  219).  In  other  countries  the  juice  is  allowed 
to  ferment,  which  it  does  spontaneously,  and  in  hot  climates 
within  a very  short  period  of  time.  This  fermentation  con- 


TALM  WINE.  OR  TODDY. 


267 


verts  the  siigar  into  alcohol,  and  the  juice  which  contains  it 
Into  an  intoxicating  liquor. 

In  the  islands  of  the  Fig  50 

Indian  Archipelago,  the 
Moluccas,  and  the  Philip- 
pines, an  intoxicating  li- 
quor is  prepared  in  this 
way  from  the  sap  of  the 
gommuti  palm,  Saguerus 
sacckarifer.  It  is  called 
neva  in  Sumatra,  and  the 
Batavian  arrack  is  dis- 
tilled from  it.  The  cocoa 
palm,  Cocos  nuciferci  (fig. 

50),  produces  the  palm 
wine,  known  in  India  and 
the  Pacific  by  the  name 
of  toddy.  The  mode  of 
collecting  it  in  the  islands 
of  the  Pacific  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Capt.  Wilkes : — 

“ The  karaca  or  toddy 
is  procured  from  the  spathe 
of  the  cocoa-nut  tree,  which 
is  usually  about  four  feet 
long  and  two  inches  in  dia- 
meter. From  this  spathe 
the  flower  and  fruit  are 
produced  ; but  in  order  to 
procure  their  favourite 
toddy,  it  is  necessary  to 
prevent  nature  from  taking  her  course  in  bringing  forth  the 
fruit.  With  this  view  they  bind  up  the  spathe  tightly  with 
sennit,  then  cut  off  the  end  of  the  spathe  and  hang  a cocca- 


Coco8  nuciferci — The  Cocoa-nut  Palm. 
Scale,  1 inch  to  12  feet. 


268 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


Fig.  51. 


nut  shell  to  catch  the  sap  as  it  exudes.  One  tree  will  yield 
from  two  to  six  pints  of  karaca. 
When  first  obtained  from  the 
tree  it  is  like  the  milk  of  the 
young  cocoa-nut,  and  quite  lim- 
pid, but  after  it  stands  for  a few 
hours  it  ferments  and  becomes 
acid.  When  the  sap  ceases  to 
drop,  another  piece  is  cut  off  the 
spathe,  and  every  time  the  flow 
ceases  the  same  process  es  re- 
peated until  the  spathe  is  entirely 
gone.  Another  spathe  is  formed 
soon  after,  above  this,  which  is 
suffered  to  grow,  and  when  large 
enough  is  treated  in  the  same 
manner.”  # 

This  method  of  cutting  the 
spathe,  or  flowering  head,  is  a 
very  common  one  for  procuring 
the  sweet  sap  of  the  palm  trees. 
In  some  countries,  however,  it  is 
obtained,  like  that  of  the  sugai 
maple  and  the  manna  ash,  by  sim- 
ply making  an  incision  near  the 
top  of  the  tree.  This  custom 
prevails  in  the  interior  of  Africa, 
and  in  the  Indian  province 
of  Bahar,  where  the  abundant 
date-palm  (fig.  51)  is  yearly 
*%owifa)(fac^w/<jm~TheDatoPaim.  bled  for  the  favourite  toddy.  Dr. 

Scale,  1 inch  to  20  feet.  __  - ., 

Fruit,  i inch  to  2 inches.  Hooker  thus  describes  a grove 


* United  States  Exploring  Expedition , vc..  ii.,  p.  220. 


WINE  OF  THE  DATE  TREE. 


269 


of  date  palms  in  which  he  encamped  on  the  hanks  of  the 
Soane  river  in  that  province  : — 

“ All  were  curiously  distorted,  the  trunks  growing  zig- 
zag, from  the  practice  of  yearly  tapping  the  alternate  sides 
for  toddy.  The  incision  is  made  just  below  the  crown,  and 
slopes  upwards  and  inwards.  A vessel  is  hung  below  the 
wound,  and  the  juice  conducted  into  it  by  a little  piece  of 
bamboo.  This  operation  spoils  the  fruit,  which,  though 
eaten,  is  smaller  and  much  inferior  to  the  African  date.”  * 
In  India,  generally,  it  is  the  fan  palm  ( Borassus ) which 
is  chiefly  bled  for  toddy.  But  in  Bahar  the  date  tree  is 
preferred,  because  its  sap  more  readily  ferments.  In  the 
fertile  oases  which  are  sprinkled  over  the  desert  Sahara  of 
Northern  Africa,  where  date- tree  forests  cover  the  soil,  and 
form  the  chief  food  and  wealth  of  the  inhabitants,  this 
variety  of  palm  is  constantly  tapped  in  the  flowering  season 
ty  the  Arab  and  other  Mahommedan  tribes.  They  call  the 
sap  lagmi)  and  from  two  to  three  pints  are  yielded  by 
each  tree  in  a single  night.  But  wine  of  the  best  quality 
is  said  to  be  yielded  by  the  oil  palms  ( Cocos  butyracea 
and  Elais  guineensis)  which  grow  on  the  west  African 
coast ; while  for  abundant  yield  few  excel  the  Caryota 
urens , the  most  beautiful  of  Indian  palms,  which  will  often 
yield  a hundred  pints  of  toddy  in  the  twenty-four  hours  1 — 
(Roxburgh.) 

In  the  oasis  of  Tozar,  a dependency  of  Tunis,  the  date 
wine  is  to  be  found  in  every  house,  and  reeling  Arabs  are 
frequently  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  its  principal  towns. 
They  are  strict  Mahommedans ; but  they  justify  their  ap- 
parent disobedience  to  the  Prophet  by  saying,  “ Lagmi  is 
not  wine,  and  the  Prophet’s  prohibition  refers  to  wine.”  f 
The  juice  of  the  palm  tree  varies  in  quality  with  the  spe- 

* Himalayan  Journals , vol.  i.,  p.  35. 
t Evenings  in  my  Tent . By  the  Rev.  William  Davis. 


270 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


cies  of  palm,  and  with  the  locality  in  which  it  is  grown.  No 
chemical  examination  of  it  has  yet,  I believe,  been  publish- 
ed. As  it  flows  from  the  tree  it  is  sweet,  and  void  of  in- 
toxicating properties  ; but  when  allowed  to  stand  for  a short 
time  it  usually  ferments,  and  becomes  first  intoxicating,  and 
afterwards  acid.  Upon  the  tendency  to  ferment,  the  place 
of  growth  appears  to  have  an  influence.  This  is  shown  by 
the  circumstance,  that  while  the  juice  of  the  fan  palm  pro- 
duces the  usual  toddy  of  India,  that  of  the  date  tree  is  pre- 
ferred to  it  among  the  hills  of  Bahar,  because  there  the  sap 
of  the  fan  palm  does  not  readily  ferment — (Hooker). 

The  date  juice,  in  the  Sahara,  when  drunk  immediately, 
tastes  like  genuine  rich  milk  ; but  when  allowed  to  stand  for 
a night,  or  at  most  for  twenty-four  hours,  it  ferments,  and, 
except  that  it  continues  whitish,  it  acquires  the  sparkling 
quality  and  flavour  of  champagne.  This  quality  no  doubt 
differs  with  the  kind  of  tree,  and  with  the  place  of  growth. 
By  distillation  the  fermented  juice  yields  a strong  brandy, 
which  is  almost  everywhere  extracted  from  it  in  Africa,  as 
well  as  in  Asia.  At  Monghyr,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges 
— which  is  celebrated  not  only  for  its  iron  manufactures  but 
for  its  drunkenness — Dr.  Hooker  observes  that  the  abundance 
of  toddy  palms  was  quite  remarkable. 

In  Chili,  on  the  American  coast,  wine  is  made  from  a 
species  of  palm ; in  India,  and  other  parts  of  Asia,  palm 
wine  is  extensively  consumed ; while  in  Africa  it  is  almost 
the  only  fermented  liquor  in  very  general  use.  Though  we 
know  so  little  of  it  in  Europe,  therefore,  the  wine  of  the 
palm  tree  is  drunk  as  an  exhilarating  liquor  by  a larger  num- 
ber of  the  human  race  than  the  wine  of  the  grape. 

4°.  Sugar-cane  Wine,  or  Guarapo. — Like  the  sap  of 
the  palm  tree,  that  of  the  sugar  cane  ferments  spontaneously, 
and  produces  an  intoxicating  liquor.  To  this  cane-wine  the 
negroes  give  the  name  of  Guarapo,  and  they  hold  it  in  high 


PULQUE,  OCTLI,  OR  AGAVE  WINE.  27 1 

wsteem.  It  contains,  of  course,  all  the  ingredients  of  the 
cane  juice,  except  those  which  are  changed  or  naturally  dis- 
appear during  the  fermentation,  and  those  which  sub- 
side when  it  clarifies.  I am  not  aware,  however,  that  any 
special  chemical  examination  of  this  drink  has  hitherto  been 
made. 

5°.  Pulque,  Octli,  or  Agave  Wine,  is  the  favourite 
drink  of  the  lower  classes  in  the  central  part  of  the  table- 
land of  Mexico.  It  is  produced  by  fermenting  the  sap  of 
the  Maguey  or  American  aloe  ( Agave  Americana  or  Mezi- 
cana ),  which  is  cultivated  in  plantations  for  the  purpose. 
This  plant  is  of  slow  growth,  but  when  full  grown  its  leaves 
attain  a height  of  five  to  eight  feet,  and  even  more.  It 
flowers  on  an  average  only  onco  in  ten  years,  and,  as  in  the 
case  of  palm  wine,  it  is  from  the  flower-stalk  that  the  juice 
is  extracted.  In  the  plantations,  the  Indian  watches  each 
plant  as  the  time  of  its  flowering  approaches,  and  just  when 
the  central  shoot  or  flower-stem  is  about  to  appear,  he  makes 
a deep  cut,  and  scoops  out  the  whole  heart  (el  corazon)  or 
middle  part  of  the  stem,  leaving  nothing  but  the  outside 
rind.  This  forms  a natural  basin  or  well,  about  two  feet  in 
depth  and  one  and  a half  in  width.  Into  this  well  the  sap, 
which  was  intended  to  feed  the  shoot,  flows  so  rapidly  that 
it  is  necessary  to  remove  it  twice,  and  sometime  three  times 
a-day.  To  make  this  more  easy,  the  leaves  on  one  side  are 
cut  away  and  the  central  basin  laid  open,  as  is  seen  in 
fig.  52. 

The  sap  as  it  flows  has  a very  sweet  taste,  and  none  of 
that  disagreeable  smell  which  it  afterwards  acquires.  It  is 
called  aguamiel  or  honey-water.  It  ferments  spontaneous- 
ly, and  a small  quantity  of  old  fermented  juice  speedily  in- 
duces fermentation  in  that  which  is  newly  drawn,  as  sour 
leaven  does  in  new  dough.  It  is  usual,  therefore,  to  set 
aside  a portion  of  sap,  to  ferment  separately  for  ten  or  fifteen 


272 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


days,  and  to  add  a small  quantity  of  this  to  each  vessel 
of  fresh  juice.  Fermentation  is  excited  immediately,  and 


Fig.  52. 


Agave  Americana— The  American  Aloe. 

As  prepared  for  producing  pulque,  and  with  a distant  flowering-plant. 

Scale,  1 inch  to  5 feet 

in  twenty-four  hours  it  becomes  pulque  in  the  very  best 
state  for  drinking.  A good  maguey  yields  from  eight  to 
fifteen  pints  a-day,  and  this  supply  continues  during  two  and 
often  three  months — (Ward).* 

The  chemical  changes  which  take  place  during  the  fer- 
mentation of  this  juice  are  the  more  interesting  as  they  are 
in  some  respects  peculiar. 

First , Alcohol  is  produced  as  in  other  fermented  liquors. 
This  is  shown  by  the  slightly  intoxicating  qualities  of  the 
drink,  and  by  its  yielding,  when  distilled,  an  ardent  spirit. 
To  this  brandy  the  name  of  mexical  is  given,  or  of  aguar- 
diente de  maguey.  The  average  proportion  of  alcohol  in 
the  pulque  is  not  stated. 


* Mexico  in  1827,  vol.  i.,  p.  57. 


FERMENTATION  OF  AGAVE  WINE. 


273 


Second , An  acid  is  formed  also — the  pulque,  as  a drink, 
being  described  as  resembling  cider.  But  what  is  the  nature 
of  the  acid  has  not  been  determined.  But, 

Third , The  most  remarkable  result  of  the  fermenta 
tion  is,  that  the  nearly  smell-less  juice  acquires  a fetid  and 
disagreeable  odour  of  tainted  meat.  This  makes  the  liquor 
be  looked  upon  at  first  with  disgust,  especially  by  Europeans. 
It  is  so  cool,  agreeable,  and  refreshing,  however,  that  this 
first  disgust  being  overcome,  the  pulque  is  preferred,  even  by 
Europeans,  to  every  other  liquid. 

The  nature  of  this  evil-smelling  ingredient,  and  the 
chemical  changes  by  which  it  is  produced,  have  not  been 
investigated.  It  is  probably  similar  in  kind  to  that  which 
gives  the  bad  smell  to  putrid  fish  ( Trimethylamine ).*  Sub- 
stances of  this  kind  are  sometimes  produced  in  the  living 
plant.  The  Bladder-headed  Saussurea,  for  example,  which 
grows  in  the  Himalayas,  emits  as  it  grows  the  smell  of  putrid 
meat ; and  the  Stapelias  are  called  carrion-flowers,  because 
of  the  disagreeable  putrid  odours  they  exhale. 

The  natives  of  Mexico  ascribe  many  good  qualities  to 
their  national  drink.  It  is  an  excellent  stomachic,  promotes 
digestion,  induces  sleep,  and  is  esteemed  as  a remedy  in 
many  diseases.  It  is  chiefly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  large 
towns,  like  Puebla  and  Mexico,  that  the  maguey  plantations 
exist.  The  pulque  so  soon  passes  that  state  of  fermentation 
at  which  it  is  most  pleasant  to  drink,  that  the  manufacture 
only  pays  where  a speedy  sale  is  certain.  The  brandy  or 
aguardiente,  which  is  not  liable  to  this  inconvenience,  is 
largely  manufactured,  and  more  widely  consumed  than  tho 
pulque  itself 


* See  in  a subsequent  chapter  The  Smells  we  dislike. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 

THE  BRANDIES.  . 

Tie  brandies,  or  ardent  spirits. — Methods  of  distillation. — Absolute  alcohol. — Strength 
of  different  variotics  of  spirits. — Peculiarities  in  the  preparatory  processes  of  the 
distiller. — Use  of  raw  grain  mixed  with  malt ; profit  of  this. — Average  produce  of 
proof  spirits. — Peculiar  flavour  of  cognac,  rum,  &c. — Consumption  of  home- 
made ardent  spirits  in  tho  three  kingdoms. — Quantity  of  malt  used  in  brewing.— 
Spirits  consumed  in  the  form  of  beer. — Comparative  sobriety  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland.— Consumption  of  foreign  liquors. — Alleged  greater  intemperance  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland:  how  this  impression  has  been  produced. — Influence  of 
the  nutritive  matter,  and  of  the  hops  contained  in  beer. — Influence  of  general 
food  and  temperament. — Ardent  spirits  serve  the  same  purpose  as  the  starch  and 
fat  of  our  food,  and  retard  the  waste  of  the  body.-r-Wine,  “ the  milk  of  the  aged.”— 
Substances  employed  to  give  a fictitious  strength  to  fermented  liquors. 

III.  The  Brandies,  or  Ardent  Spirits. — When  fer- 
mented liquors,  such  as  those  above  described,  are  put  into 
an  open  vessel  and  heated  over  a fire  till  they  begin  to  boil, 
the  alcohol  they  contain  rises  in  the  form  of  vapour,  along 
with  a little  steam,  and  escapes  into  the  air.  If  this  boiling 
be  performed  in  a elose  vessel,  from  which  the  vapours  as 
they  rise  are  conducted  by  a pipe  into  a cooled  receiver, 
they  condense  again  into  a liquid  state.  This  is  the  process 
called  distillation,  and  the  vessel  in  which  it  is  carried  on  is 
called  a still. 


PROCESS  OF  DISTILLATION. 


275 


1°.  The  distillation. — A retort  connected  with  a re- 
ceiver, over  which  a stream  of  cold  water  is  kept  flowing 
(fig.  53),  represents  the  simplest  form  of  such  a still ; but 


Fig.  53. 


many  more  complicated  forms  of  apparatus  have  been  con- 
trived for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  process  with  economy 
and  efficiency.  The  following  illustration  (fig.  54)  represents 

Fig.  54. 


276 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT 


a form  of  still,  of  common  use  in  our  laboratories,  for  distil 
ling  water.  The  kettle  a,  which  contains  the  water,  is  cov 
ered  by  the  movable  dome  b,  from  which  the  pipe  b c con- 
ducts the  vapour  into  the  receiver  r,  which  is  surrounded 
with  cold  water.  Thence  the  condensed  liquid  descends 
through  a continuation  of  the  tube,  bent  spirally,  called  the 
WOrm,  by  which  it  is  exposed  to  the  prolonged  action  of  the 
cold  water,  till  at  length  it  flows  quite  cool  into  the  bottle 
placed  to  receive  it.  Into  the  worm-tub  a stream  of  cold 
water  constantly  enters  by  the  pipe  p p,  while  a similar 
stream  of  warm  water  as  constantly  escapes  by  the  pipe  q. 

Arrangements  somewhat  different  are  made  in  the  large 
distilleries,  chiefly  with  the  view  of  economising  time  and 
fuel.  The  following  (fig.  55)  represents  a common  form  of 


Fig.  55. 


apparatus,  where  the  process  of  spirit-distillation  is  conduct 
ed  on  a large  scale.  The  principal  peculiarities  in  this  are 
— first,  The  broad  flat  bottom  of  the  pot  or  still  a,  by  which 
the  effect  of  the  heat  is  more  quickly  and  fully  obtained  ; 


PROCESS  OF  DISTILLATION. 


277 


and,  second , The  adoption  of  two  worms,  b and  c,  in  differ- 
ent vessels.  In  the  first  of  these  vessels  cold  wort  is  put. 
which  is  heated  by  the  vapours  as  the  distillation  proceeds, 
and  when  hot  is  run  at  once  by  the  stopcock  s into  the  still. 
The  second  vessel  contains  cold  water  as  before,  and  as  this 
water  heats  it  is  run  off,  and  is  employed  in  mashing  the 
grain.  Thus  heat  is  economised  in  various  ways. 

The  spirit  which  passes  off  and  condenses  in  the  worm 
is.  more  or  less  mixed  with  water,  but  by  means  of  succes- 
sive distillations — or  rectifications , as  they  are  called — it 
may  be  obtained  quite  free  from  water.  It  is  then  what 
chemists  call  absolute  alcohol.  This  pure  or  absolute  alcohol 
has  a peculiar  penetrating  smell ; a hot,  fiery,  and  burning 
taste ; is  about  one-fifth  part  lighter  than  water ; * burns 
readily,  but  with  a pale  flame  when  kindled  in  the  air, 
and  is  intoxicating  in  a high  degree.  It  is  used  only  for 
chemical  purposes.  The  spirit-of-wine,  or  common  alcohol 
of  the  shops,  which  we  burn  in  our  lamps,  and  employ  for 
other  familiar  uses,  is  already  diluted  with  a considerable 
proportion  of  water. 

In  the  brandies,  or  varieties  of  ardent  spirits  which  we 
consume  as  exhilarating  drinks,  the  alcohol  is  still  furthei 
diluted  with  water. 

Thus  the  proportions  of  alcohol  percent.,  in  some  of  the 
common  varieties  of  commercial  spirits,  are  as  follows  (at 
62°  Fahr.) 

Alcohol. 


British  proof-spirit  contains 

By  weight. 

50 

By  measure. 

57 

Commercial  Cognac, 

. 

50  to  54 

Enm, 

. 

72  to  77 

Qeneva, 

. 

50 

Whisky, 

. 

59 

* A vessel  which  will  hold  1000  graiis  of  water  will  hold  only  792  of  absolute 
alaohoL.  Its  specific  gravity  is  therefore  said  to  be  792,  that  of  water  being  1000— or 
1.792,  that  of  wTater  being  1. 


278 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


So  that  on  an  average,  we  may  say  that  the  ardent  spirits 
we  consume  contain  only  half  their  weight,  or  three-fifths  of 
their  bulk  of  absolute  alcohol.  They  are  about  twice  as 
strong  as  our  port,  sherry,  and  Madeira  wines. 

Every  different  fermented  liquor,  when  distilled,  yields 
an  ardent  spirit  which  has  a flavour,  and  is  generally  distin- 
guished by  a name  of  its  own.  Thus  wine  yields  what  we 
call  brandy  or  cognac  : fermented  molasses  yields  rum ; 
Indian  corn,  potatoes,  and  rye,  yield  liquors  which  are  dis- 
tinguished as  corn,  rye,  and  potato  brandies ; while  malt 
liquors  give  our  Scotch  and  Irish  whiskies.  If  juniper 
berries  be  added  previous  to  distillation,  as  is  usually  done 
in  Holland,  a flavour  is  imparted  to  the  spirit  which  is 
characteristic  of  gin  or  Hollands  ; and  if  the  malt  be 
dried  over  a peat  fire,  the  smell  and  taste  of  the  peat  (the 
peet-reek)  accompany  the  spirit  prepared  from  it ; and  these, 
in  the  estimation  of  the  initiated,  impart  a peculiar  value  to 
peet-reek  whisky. 

2°.  The  distillers’  processes. — But  though  malt  and 
other  liquors,  fermented  in  the  usual  way — indeed,  in  almost 
any  way — will  yield  brandy  by  distillation,  yet  the  distiller 
by  profession  conducts  his  fermenting  operations  in  a some- 
what different  way  from  the  brewer,  whose  object  is  merely 
the  production  of  beer.  Thus — 

Fir sty  We  have  seen  that,  in  fermenting  the  wort  for 
the  manufacture  of  beer,  a large  proportion  of  the  sugar  is 
left  in  the  liquor  unchanged.  The  fermentation  is  stopped 
before  this  sugar  is  transformed  into  alcohol,  in  order  that 
the  beer  may  be  pleasant  to  drink,  and  that  it  may  keep  in 
the  cask  without  turning  sour.  But  the  distiller’s  object  is 
to  obtain  the  largest  possible  quantity  of  spirit  from  his 
grain ; he  therefore  prolongs  the  fermentation  until  the 
whole  of  the  sugar  is  transformed,  as  nearly  as  possible,  into 
alcohol  and  carbonic  acid.  To  leave  any  of  it  unchanged 


USE  OF  UNMALTED  GRAIN. 


279 


would  not  only  involve  a loss  of  spirit,  but,  during  the  sub- 
sequent distillation,  might  injure  the  flavour  and  general 
quality  of  the  spirit  he  obtained.  The  securing  of  this 
point,  therefore,  requires  on  his  part  an  attention  to  minute 
circumstances,  different  a little  in  kind,  but  not  less  nice  and 
delicate  than  those  which  determine  the  success  of  the  brew 
er’s  operations. 

Again , the  most  agreeable  and  generally  esteemed  grain 
spirit  is  obtained  when  malted  barley  only  is  employed  in 
the  manufacture.  This  yields  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  the 
best  malt  whisky.  The  profit  of  the  distiller,  however,  is 
often  promoted  by  mixing  with  the  malt  a greater  or  less 
proportion  of  unmalted  grain,  or  even  of  potato  starch.  To 
the  reason  of  this  I have  already  briefly  alluded  (p.  243), 
but  it  is  worthy  of  a fuller  explanation. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  the  diastase,  produced  during 
the  germination  of  the  barley,  which  subsequently  trans- 
forms the  starch  of  the  grain  into  sugar.  This  diastase  is 
capable  of  so  transforming  nearly  a thousand  times  its  own 
weight  of  starch ; but  good  malt  contains  only  a hundred 
of  starch  to  one  of  diastase.  The  latter  ingredient,  there- 
fore, will  transform  into  sugar  ten  times  as  much  starch  as 
it  is  associated  with  in  the  best  malt.  Hence  a large  quan- 
tity of  starch,  either  in  the  form  of  crushed  unmalted  grain, 
or  of  potato  starch,  may  be  mixed  even  with  ordinary  malt 
in  the  mash-tub,  with  the  certainty  that  the  diastase  of  the 
malt  will  transform  it  all  into  sugar. 

This  is  what  the  distiller  does  in  making  grain  whisky ; 
and  the  profit  of  it  consists  in  this — that  he  saves  both  the 
expense  of  malting  his  grain  and  the  loss  of  matter  (usually 
8 per  cent.),*  which  barley  always  undergoes  in  malting 

* A hundred  pounds  of  barley  yield  only  eighty  pounds  of  malt.  But  of  this  lose 
32  per  cent,  consists  of  water  driven  off  by  the  heat  of  the  malt  kiln,  so  that  the  rea* 
’ess  of  substance  is  8 lb.  in  the  100. 


280 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


He  is  able,  also,  to  use  for  these  additions  of  grain  an  in 
ferior  or  cheaper  material  than  is  usually  employed  for 
conversion  into  malt.*  The  sweet  wort  obtained  in  this 
way,  when  fermented  and  distilled,  yields  a spirit  of  a some- 
what harsher  and  less  pleasant  flavour  than  when  malt  alone 
is  used. 

Along  with  the  spirit,  during  the  distillation  of  fer- 
mented liquors,  there  always  passes  over  a small  but  varia- 
ble proportion  of  one  or  more  volatile  oily  liquids,  which 
mix  with  the  spirit  and  give  it  a peculiar  flavour.  These 
volatile  oils  vary  in  kind,  in  composition,  and  in  sensible 
properties,  with  the  source  of  the  sugar  which  has  been  sub- 
mitted to  fermentation,  and  with  the  substances  which  are 
present  along  with  it  in  the  wort.  Hence  the  spirit  obtain- 
ed from  almost  every  different  fermented  liquor  is  distin- 
guished by  its  own  characteristic  flavour.  Thus  wine,  brandy, 
or  cognac,  derives  its  vinous  flavour  from  the  juice  of  the 
grape  ; and  cognacs  of  different  districts  their  special  flavours 
from  the  kinds  of  wine  which  are  distilled  in  each.  Rum  ob- 
tains its  smell  and  taste  from  molasses,  the  scorched  and 
altered  juice  of  the  sugar  cane  ; whisky  its  peculiarities  from 
the  barley-malt  or  grain  that  is  mixed  with  it;  potato 
brandy,  from  the  mashed  potato  or  its  skin  ;f  palm  brandy, 

* Thus,  in  some  of  the  Scotch  distilleries,  such  a mixture  as  the  following  is  em- 
ployed : — 


Malt, 

42  bushels  at  40  lb.  a bushel. 

Oats, 

25  „ 

4T  „ 

Rye, 

25  „ 

53  „ 

Barley, 

158  „ 

53  „ 

250 

The  diastase  in  the  42  bushels  of  malt  converts  into  sugar  the  starch  of  the  whole 
250  bushels,  weighing  eight  times  as  much  as  the  malt  itself.  This  quantity  of 
grain  yields  on  an  average  583  gallons  of  proof  whisky,  or  14  gallons  from  6 bushels  ol 
the  mixture. 

t Potato  brandy  is  contaminated,  among  other  substances,  by  a volatilo  spirit 
called  amyle  alcohol.  And  it  is  a singular  circumstance  that  the  cognac  distilled  in 
the  south  of  France  from  the  grape  husks — known  as  Eau  de  vie  de  marc  de  raisin — 
also  contains  the  same  amyle  alcohol.  In  the  one  case  it  is  probably  derived  from  th* 
skm  of  the  root,  in  the  other  from  the  skin  of  the  fruit. 


CONSUMPTION  OF  ARDENT  SPIRITS. 


281 


from  the  fermented  toddy  ; the  aguardiente  of  Mexico,  from 
the  strong-smelling  pulque  ; and  the  arraca  of  the  Kalmucks, 
from  their  fermented  milk.  And  so  with  other  varieties 
of  spirit.  In  each  case  a volatile  substance,  peculiar  in 
kind,  accompanies  the  spirit ; and  though  this  substance  is 
always  very  small  in  quantity,  it  is  yet  sufficient  to  impart  to 
each  different  variety  a flavour  at  once  characteristic  and 
peculiar  to  itself. 

It  is  chiefly  from  malted  and  raw  grain  of  various 
kinds  that  ardent  spirits  are  distilled  in  the  British  islands, 
in  Northern  Europe  generally,  and  in  the  North  American 
states  and  colonies.  Maize  or  Indian  corn  is  most  exten 
sively  employed  for  this  purpose  in  the  United  States. 
Potatoes  are  used  to  a considerable  extent  on  the  continent 
of  Europe ; and  sugar  is  occasionally  employed  in  our  own 
distilleries. 

3°.  Consumption  of  ardent  spirits — The  manufacture 
and  consumption  of  ardent  spirits,  especially  in  northern 
climates,  is  exceedingly  great.  In  the  United  Kingdom,  the 
quantity  distilled  and  consumed,  in  the  year  ending  on  the 
5th  of  January,  1854,  was  about  25  millions  of  gallons, 
distributed  as  follows  : — 


England,  . 

Scotland, 

Ireland, 

United  Kingdom, 


Distilled. 
10,729,243  gallons. 
6,557,839  „ 

8,136,862  „ 

25,423,444 


Consumed. 
10,350,307  gallons. 
6,534,648  „ 

8,136,362  „ 


25,021,317 


This  is  a very  large  quantity  of  ardent  spirits  to  be  con- 
sumed by  a population  of  less  than  thirty  millions.  The 
numbers  appear  especially  large  in  the  cases  of  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  and  would  seem  at  first  sight  to  imply  a much 
greater  proportionate  consumption  of  alcohol  in  these  coun- 
tries than  in  England. 


282 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


But  a simple  application  of  chemical  knowledge  mate- 
rially alters  this  first  conclusion. 

a . In  the  year  ending  on  the  10th  October,  1852,#  the 
quantity  of  malt  consumed  in  each  of  the  three  kingdoms 
in  the  making  of  beer , was  in  bushels — 

England,  ......  80,636,240 

Scotland, 1,127,224 

Ireland,  . . . . . . 1,266,344 

United  Kingdom,  33,029,S08 

From  which  numbers  it  appears,  that  of  the  33  millions 
of  bushels  of  malt  used  in  the  three  kingdoms  for  the 
making  of  beer,  30|  millions  are  consumed  in  England 
alone. 

Now,  in  the  average  of  years,  one  bushel  of  malt  yields 
two  gallons  of  proof  spirit,  so  that  the  malt  yearly  made 
into  beer  in  England,  if  employed  for  making  whisky, 
would  yield  the  enormous  quantity  of  61  millions  of 
gallons ! 

I have  already  stated,  however,  that  in  the  fermentation 
of  the  worts  for  the  manufacture  of  beer,  the  whole  of  the 
sugar  is  not  transformed  into  alcohol.  From  one-fourth  to 
sometimes  one-half  of  the  whole  sugar  remains  unchanged 
in  the  beer.  The  quantity  of  malt,  therefore,  which  is  con- 
sumed in  England  for  the  making  of  this  milder  drink  does 
not  in  reality  indicate  the  consumption  of  so  large  a num- 
ber of  gallons  of  ardent  spirits  as  the  distiller  would  extract 
from  it.  If  we  allow  one-fourth  of  the  whole  for  the  sugar 
remaining  unchanged  in  the  beer,  then  the  quantity  of  ardent 
spirits  actually  consumed  in  the  three  kingdoms  would  be 
very  nearly  as  follows  (in  gallons) : — 

* I use  this  return  because  I have  not  at  hand  any  later  one,  -which  distinguishei 
the  malt  used  bj  the  brewers  from  that  used  by  the  distillers. 


RELATIVE  CONSUMPTION. 


283 


England. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

Spirits  consumed  as  such, 

10,350,307 

6,534,648 

8,136,362 

Spirits  consumed  in  the  beer,  45,954,860 

1,790,836 

1,899,516 

Total  spirits  consumed, 

56,304,667 

8,325,484 

10,035,878 

Now,  if  we  divide 

these  several  total  sums  by  th« 

population  of  each  of  the  three  kingdoms,  we 

obtain  the 

following  numbers  for 

the  quantity  of  ardent  spirits  con- 

Burned  per  head  in  each  country — 

England. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

Total  consumption  in  gallons, 

56g  millions. 

8£  millions. 

10  millions. 

Population,  .... 

18 

3 

„ 

Consumption  per  head  in  gallons, 

3 9 » 

2^  » 

n „ 

In  so  far  as  the  mere 

consumption  of  alcohol, 

in  the  form 

of  home-made  liquors,  goes,  therefore,  it  appears  that  Scot- 
land does  not  in  reality  surpass  England.  On  the  contrary, 
England  somewhat  exceeds  Scotland,  while  both  England 
and  Scotland  greatly  surpass  Ireland.  For  every  head  of 
its  population,  Ireland  consumes  less  than  half  what  is  con- 
sumed in  England,  and  somewhat  more  than  half  of  what  is 
consumed  in  Scotland.  This  very  small  comparative  con- 
sumption in  Ireland  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  an  increased 
temperance  caused  by  the  labours  of  Father  Matthew  and 
others.  On  the  contrary,  since  his  time  the  consumption 
per  head  has  greatly  increased,  as  is  seen  by  comparing  tho 
last  two  decennial  periods.  Thus — 

And  the  consumption  of  spirits. 

In  the  year  The  population  was  Total.  Per  head. 

1842  8,175,124  5,290,650  5*  pints. 

1852  6,515,794  6,208,256  10  pints. 

The  consumption  per  head  in  Ireland  is,  therefore, 
rapidly  increasing ; and  it  is  both  fairer  and  safer,  I 
think,  to  ascribe  this  increase  to  a general  advance  in  mate 

18 


284 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


rial  prosperity,  than  to  augmenting  intemperance  and  di» 
sipation. 

b.  But  in  estimating  the  actual  and  relative  consump 
tion  of  alcohol  in  England  and  Scotland,  there  are  still 
two  other  items  to  be  taken  into  calculation.  Wine  and 
foreign  spirits  are  imported  into  the  United  Kingdom,  and 
consumed  in  large  quantities.  Thus,  in  the  year  ending  5th 
January,  1854  there  was  entered  for  home  consumption 
in  gallons, — 


Containing  of  proof  spirits. 

Gallons. 

Gallons. 

Wine, 

7,197,572 

1,440,000* 

Foreign  spirits, 

. 

5,131,618 

Total,  6,571,618 


Now,  in  England,  the  consumption  of  wine  and  foreign 
spirits,  among  the  middle  and  higher  classes,  is  certainly  far 
more  universal  than  among  the  same  classes  in  Scotland. 
A much  larger  proportion  per  head  of  the  6^  millions  of 
gallons  of  spirits,  consumed  in  the  form  of  imported  liquors, 
must  therefore  be  ascribed  to  England.  Let  us  suppose  it 
all  to  be  consumed  in  Great  Britain — leaving  the  small  con- 
sumption of  Ireland  out  of  the  question — and  that  every 
Englishman  drinks  two  bottles  for  the  Scotchman’s  one; 
then — 

The  Englishman  drinks  . . . . 2§  pints,  and 

The  Scotchman  .....  1^  pints 

of  ardent  spirits,  in  the  form  of  imported  liquors.  Add 
ing  this  to  the  consumption,  in  the  form  of  home-made 
liquors,  we  have  the  total  consumption  per  head  as  follows, 
in  gallons  : — 

* Supposing  foreign  wines  to  contain  an  average  of  only  ten  per  f ont,  of  alcohol, 
which  is  probably  mc-balf  too  low. 


GREATER  SOBRIETY  IN  ENGLAND. 


285 


England. 

Sootland. 

In  home-made  liquors, 

• H ■ 

• • *fi 

In  imported  liquors, 

■ «}  • 

• • «rs 

Total  per  head. 

• 8I  • 

2>  I 

* ’ 

Or,  in  England,  the  total  consumption  is 

about  3J,  and  in 

Scotland  about  3 gallons  per  head.  These  numbers  do  not, 
in  themselves,  imply  very  extreme  intemperance  in  either 
country.  Were  the  total  quantity  of  ardent  spirits  we  use 
really  equally  distributed  and  consumed  in  the  above  pro- 
portions by  the  whole  population,  cases  of  drunkenness 
would  not  necessarily  occur.  It  is  because  many  consume 
more  than  their  share  that  the  evils  of  intemperance  so  often 
manifest  themselves. 

c.  Two  chemico-physiological  points  in  connection  with 
this  subject  are  deserving  of  our  consideration.  It  is  very 
generally  believed,  and  has  recently  at  least  been  very  often 
asserted — and  what  is  curious,  most  strongly  and  earnestly 
in  Scotland  itself — that  in  Scotland  intemperance  is  a much 
more  common  vice  than  in  England.  But  how  can  this  be, 
since  the  average  individual  consumption  of  alcohol  in  Eng- 
land is  one-sixth  part  greater  than  in  Scotland  ? 

And,  again,  Ireland  has  been  reproached  for  its  intem- 
perance and  for  its  love  of  whisky  even  more  than  Scotland, 
and  yet  the  individual  consumption  of  alcohol  in  any  form  is 
probably  less  in  that  island  than  in  any  northern  country, 
either  European  or  American.  Can  this  allegation  be  true, 
or  how  is  it  to  be  accounted  for  ? 

First , As  to  the  alleged  greater  sobriety  of  England,  it 
is  to  be  observed,  that  upwards  of  three-fourths  of  all  the 
alcohol  drunk  in  that  country  is  in  the  form  of  beer.  This 
liquor,  as  we  have  seen,  feeds  and  nourishes  while  it  exhila- 
rates the  Englishman.  All  which  the  distillers’  fermented 
wort  contains,  except  its  alcohol,  remains  behind  in  the  still 


286 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


and  is  lost  as  food  for  man.  All  that  the  brewers’  wort 
contains,  with  the  exception  of  what  separates  in  the  fining 
of  his  liquor,  is  retained  and  drunk  in  the  beer.  Sugar  and 
gluten  to  the  amount  of  from  4 to  8 per  cent,  of  its  weight, 
exist  in  the  malt  liquor ; and  these,  by  strengthening  the 
system,  modify  and  mollify  the  apparent  action  of  the  alcohol 
with  which  they  are  associated.  They  place  malt  liquors  in 
the  same  relation  to  ardent  spirits  as  cocoa  bears  to  tea  and 
coffee.* 

Besides,  beer  is  drugged,  so  to  speak,  with  hops,  the 
tonic,  narcotic,  and  sedative  influences  of  which  restrain, 
retard,  and  modify  the  intoxicating  action  of  the  spirit. 
Thus — controlled  by  the  nutritive  and  narcotic  ingredients 
it  is  associated  with — a larger  proportion  of  ardent  spirit 
will  produce  a smaller  sensible  intoxicating  effect  than  if 
taken  alone.  And  thus,  a people  may  appear  more  temperate 
and  sober  while  in  reality  it  consumes  a larger  proportion  of 
ardent  spirits. 

Second. — But  though  these  reasons  may  go  far  to  ex- 
plain the  difference  in  the  reputed  sobriety  of  the  two  ends 
of  our  own  island,  they  scarcely  explain  why  Ireland,  which 
consumes  so  little  per  head,  should  be  charged  with  an 
amount  of  intemperance  greater  even  than  Scotland  itself. 
Here  I believe  other  causes  come  into  play.  Of  these  1 
instance  only  two — the  less  substantial  food,  and  the  more 
excitable  temperament  of  the  Irish  people.  Every  one 
knows  how  easily  a man  becomes  intoxicated  if  he  pours 
down  ardent  spirits  into  an  empty  stomach.  And  from 
this  extreme  case  the  effect  of  a given  quantity  of  spirits 
becomes  less  as  the  quantity  of  good  food  eaten  becomes 
greater.  It  is  least  of  all  on  the  well-fed  muscular  beef 
eating  labourer. 


* See  The  Beverages  we  infuse. 


INFLUENCE  OF  TEMPERAMENT 


287 


And,  again,  excitable  people,  even  when  well  fed,  are  in- 
fluenced more  than  others  by  intoxicating  drinks.  As  a 
people,  it  will,  I believe,  be  conceded  that  the  Irish  are 
more  excitable  than  the  British;  and  likely,  therefore,  to 
be  overcome  by  a quantity  of  liquor  which  persons  of  a more 
immovable  temperament  could,  in  the  same  circumstances, 
drink  with  impunity.  It  is  probable  that  the  quality  and 
quantity  of  the  national  food  has  a material  influence  upon 
national  temperament.  But  however  this  be,  I am  inclined 
to  see,  in  the  two  things — in  the  national  food  and  the 
national  temperament — an  explanation  of  the  alleged  inso- 
briety of  a people  who,  it  is  certain,  do  really  consume  so 
little  intoxicating  drink.  * 

This  influence  of  temperament,  in  connection  with  that 
of  climate,  has  probable  something  to  do  also  with  the  great 
evils  which  are  said  to  arise  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits 
among  the  European  races  settled  in  North  America.  These, 
as  is  well  known,  have  of  late  years  given  rise  to  much  discus- 
sion— to  strenuous  efforts,  on  the  part  of  the  benevolent,  to 
check  the  consumption  of  fermented  liquors — and  to  the 
passing  of  what  is  called  the  Maine  Law,  for  the  purpose  of 
effectually  repressing  it. 

4°.  Influence  of  ardent  spirits. — In  the  ardour  of 
this  crusade  against  fermented  liquors,  statements  have 
been  hastily  made  by  over-zealous  champions  of  total  absti- 
nence, which  are  not  quite  borne  out  by  chemical  and  physi- 
ological researches. 

Ardent  spirits  of  every  variety  are  little  else  than 
alcohol  diluted  with  a large  proportion  of  water,  and  flavour- 

* Good  fellowship  is  an  enemy  to  sobriety— not  for  the  vulgar  reason  that  it  pro 
vokes  to  the  passing  of  the  bottle,  hut  because  it  makes  what  is  drunk  have  a greater 
apparent  effect.  It  is  familiar  to  the  knowing  ones,  that  if  & man  wishes  to  drink, 
he  had  better  let  his  companions  do  all  the  talking.  “ Gin*  ye’re  gaun  to  drink,  sir, 
dinna  ye  talk  muckle.”  Here  the  temperament  of  the  mercurial  and  excitable  telll 
at  once. 


288 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


cd  with  a minute  admixture  of  volatile  oil,  the  precise 
action  of  which  upon  the  system  is  not  known.  They  con- 
tain none,  therefore,  of  the  common  forms  of  nutritive  matter 
which  exist  in  our  usual  varieties  of  animal  and  vegetable 
food.  It  does  not  follow  from  this,  however,  as  some  have 
too  broadly  alleged,  that  they  are  incapable  of  serving  any 
useful  purpose  in  the  animal  economy.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  ascertained  of  ardent  spirits — 

First , That  they  directly  warm  the  body,  and,  by  the 
changes  they  undergo  in  the  blood,  supply  a portion  of 
that  carbonic  acid  and  watery  vapour  which,  as  a necessity 
of  life,  are  constantly  being  given  off  by  the  lungs.  They 
so  far,  therefore,  supply  the  place  of  food — of  the  fat  and 
starch  for  example — which  we  usually  eat.  Hence  a 
schnapps,  in  Germany,  with  a slice  of  lean  dried  meat,  make 
a mixture  like  that  of  the  starch  and  gluten  in  our  bread, 
which  is  capable  of  feeding  the  body.  So  we  either  add 
sugar  to  milk,  or  take  spirits  along  with  it  (old  man’s  milk), 
for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the  proportions  of  the  ingredients 
more  suitably  to  the  constitution,  or  to  the  circumstances  in 
which  it  is  to  be  consumed. 

Second , That  they  diminish  the  absolute  amount  of 
matter  usually  given  off  by  the  lungs  and  the  kidneys. 
They  thus  lessen,  as  tea  and  coffee  do,  (p.  191,)  the  natural 
waste  of  the  fat  and  tissues,  and  they  necessarily  diminish, 
in  an  equal  degree,  the  quantity  of  ordinary  food  which  is 
necessary  to  keep  up  the  weight  of  the  body.  In  other 
words,  they  have  the  property  of  making  a given  weight  of 
food  go  further  in  sustaining  the  strength  and  bulk  of  the 
body.  And  in  addition  to  the  saving  of  material  thus  effect- 
ed, they  ease  and  lighten  the  labour  of  the  digestive 
organs,  which,  when  the  stomach  is  weak,  is  often  a most 
valuable  result. 

Hence  fermented  liquors,  if  otherwise  suitable  to  the 


ADULTERATIONS. 


28^ 


constitution,  exercise  a beneficial  influence  upon  old  people 
and  other  weakly  persons  whose  fat  and  tissues  have  begun 
to  waste — in  whom  the  process  of  digestion,  that  is,  does 
not  replace  the  tissues  as  fast  as  they  naturally  waste 
This  lessening  in  weight  or  substance  is  one  of  the  most 
usual  consequences  of  the  approach  of  old  age.  It  is  a 
common  symptom  of  the  decline  of  life.  The  stomach  either 
does  not  receive  or  does  not  digest  food  enough  to  replace 
that  which  is  daily  removed  from  the  substance  of  the  body. 
Weak  alcoholic  drinks  arrest  or  retard,  and  thus  dimi- 
nish the  daily  amount  of  this  loss  of  substance.  They 
gently  stimulate  the  digestive  organs  also,  and  help  them 
to  do  their  work  mpre  fully  and  faithfully ; and  thus  the 
body  is  sustained  to  a later  period  in  life.  Hence  poets 
have  called  wine  “ the  milk  of  the  old,”  and  scientific  philo- 
sophy owns  the  propriety  of  the  term.  If  it  does  not  nour 
ish  the  old  so  directly  as  milk  nourishes  the  young,  yet  it 
certainly  does  aid  in  supporting  and  filling  up  their  failing 
frames.  And  it  is  one  of  the  happy  consequences  of  a tem- 
perate youth  and  manhood,  that  this  spirituous  milk  does  not 
fail  in  its  good  effects  when  the  weight  of  years  begins  to 
press  upon  us. 

All  this,  of  course,  in  no  way  justifies  the  indulgence 
in  fermented  liquors  of  any  kind  to  excess,  or  palliates 
the  moral  evils  to  which  this  excess  invariably  gives  rise. 
The  good  results  I have  spoken  of  follow  only  from  a mode- 
rate use  of  them.  But  the  peculiar  danger  attendant  upon 
the  consumption  of  intoxicating  drinks  arises  from  their  ex- 
treme seductiveness,  and  from  the  all  but  unconquerabl 
strength  of  the  dx inking  habit  when  once  formed.  Their 
peculiar  malignity  appears — where  they  have  once  obtained 
a mastery — in  their  becoming  the  parent  and  nurse  of  every 
kind  of  suffering,  immorality,  and  crime 

ft  Who  hath  woe  ? ” says  Solomon  ; ( who  hath  sorrow  ? 


290 


THE  LIQUORS  WE  FERMENT. 


who  hath  contentions  ? who  hath  babbling  ? who  hath 
wounds  without  cause  ? who  hath  redness  of  eyes  ? They 
that  tarry  long  at  the  wine ; they  that  go  to  seek  mixed 
wine  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red,  when 
it  giveth  his  colour  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth  itself  aright 
(sparkleth  ?).  At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a serpent,  and 
stingeth  like  an  adder.” 

5°.  Adulteration  of  fermented  liquors. — The  real 
strength  of  pure  fermented  liquors  depends,  as  we  have  seen, 
on  the  proportion  of  alcohol  they  contain.  But  in  various 
countries  adulterating  substances  are  added  to  them,  chiefly 
of  a narcotic  kind,  for  the  purpose  of  imparting  a fictitious  or 
apparent  strength. 

Thus,  to  malt  beer,  Cocculus  indicus , grains  of  para- 
dise, the  root  of  the  sweet  flag,  and  even  tobacco-leaves,  are 
added  in  England , the  Ledum  palustre  and  Ledum 
latifolium , in  North  Germany  ; the  Achillea  millefolia , or 
yarrow,  in  Dalecarlia ; and  the  seeds  of  Datura  stramo- 
nium in  Bussia,  in  India,  and  formerly  in  China.  In  Java, 
ragi  cakes,  made  of  onions,  black  pepper  and  capsicums,  are 
fermented  with  boiled  rice,  to  give  a similar  strength  to  rice 
beer. 

To  grape  wine  poppy  heads  are  now  added  in  Persia. 
In  ancient  Palestine,  frankincense  was  added,  especially  to 
the  wine  given  to  criminals,  for  the  purpose  of  stupefying 
them  before  the  execution  began;  and  in  ancient  Greece, 
sea- water  in  the  proportion  of  1 of  water  to  50  of  wine, 
with  the  view  of  aiding  digestion,  and  preventing  its  affecting 
the  head. 

To  ardent  spirits,  seeds  of  thorn-apple  are  added  in 
India ; and  in  England,  Malagueta  pepper  with  capsicum, 
calamus,  and  juniper  berries,  to  give  a hot,  strong  flavour  to 
London  gin. 

These  substances  are  all  foreign  to  the  true  nature  and 


ADULTERATIONS. 


29  i 

composition  of  the  liquors  we  ferment.  They  add  nothing 
to  the  amount  of  alcohol  contained  in  thv,*se  liquors.  They 
affect  their  quality  generally  by  introducing  narcotic  ingre- 
dients. The  chemical  properties  of  most  of  these  narcotic 
ingredients,  and  their  action  upon  the  system,  will  be  treated 
of  in  the  immediately  succeeding  chapters  upon  the  Narco 

TICS  WE  INDULGE  IN. 


END  or  VOL.  I 


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